Differences in the radial pulse spectrum between the follicular and luteal phases of the normal menstrual cycle

Abstract

IntroductionPulse spectrums measured from the radial artery carry hemodynamic and cardiovascular biosignals from the whole body. Many studies have shown different and special changes for specific diseases in the pulse spectrum analysis in accordance with Wang et al. who proposed that each harmonic is related to the energy of a corresponding organ. The specific aim of this study was to investigate the differences in pulse spectrum analysis between the follicular and luteal phases in healthy eumenorrheic women. MethodsBiphasic healthy eumenorrheic female volunteers were recruited and pulse pressure waveforms from the left radial artery were recorded by a sphygmography in the follicular and the luteal phases. The indices of pulse spectrum, including the areas of the first five harmonics and the spectral energy ratio (SER (10)) were calculated and compared between the follicular and the luteal phases. ResultsAccording to the data from our 25 recruited women (aged 25.9±0.9years), the areas of the five major harmonics of the pulse spectrum, which were C0, C1, C2, C3 and C4, were all larger in the luteal phase than in the follicular phase, implying a higher energy state in the luteal phase than in the follicular phase. There were no differences in SER (10) between the two phases that were measured. ConclusionThe data helps to understand the hemodynamic change within a menstrual cycle from the point of view of the pulse spectrum, establishing evidence-based literature for traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis.