Abstract
The leading cause of health loss and deaths worldwide are cardiovascular diseases. A predictor of cardiovascular diseases and events is the arterial stiffness. The pulse wave velocity (PWV) can be used to estimate arterial stiffness non-invasively. The tonometer is considered as the gold standard for measuring PWV. This approach requires manual probe fixation above the artery and depends on the skills of the operator. Electrical impedance plethysmography (IPG) is an interesting alternative using skin surface sensing electrodes, that is miniaturizable, cost-effective and allows measurement of deeper arteries. The aim of this pilot study was to explore if IPG can be a suitable technique to measure pulse wave velocity in legs as an alternative for the tonometer technique. The PWV was estimated by differences in the ECG-gated pulse arrival times (PAT) at the a. femoralis, a. popliteal, a. tibialis dorsalis and a. dorsalis pedis in nine healthy young adults using IPG and the SphygmoCor tonometer as a reference. The estimated PWV results from bioimpedance and the tonometer were fairly in agreement, and the beat-to-beat variability in PAT was similar. This pilot study indicates that the use of IPG may be a good alternative for estimating PWV in the legs.
Highlights
The leading cause of health loss and deaths worldwide are cardiovascular diseases [1]
The pulse wave velocity (PWV) was estimated by differences in the ECG-gated pulse arrival times (PAT) at the a. femoralis, a. popliteal, a. tibialis dorsalis and a. dorsalis pedis in nine healthy young adults using impedance plethysmography (IPG) and the SphygmoCor tonometer as a reference
Pulse wave velocity The PWV were simultaneously measured with bioimpedance and tonometry in the a. femoral, a. popliteal, a. dorsalis pedis and a. posterior tibial in one leg
Summary
The leading cause of health loss and deaths worldwide are cardiovascular diseases [1]. Previous studies have demonstrated that pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a valid marker for arterial stiffness that can be measured noninvasively [4]. The PWV between the carotid and femoral arteries has been considered as the “gold-standard” measurement of arterial stiffness in the aorta [3]. In a study by Lee et al it was demonstrated that in patients with chronic kidney disease that have both a high PWV in the central and peripheral arteries were associated with a rapid decline in kidney function [6]. Diabetes patients have an increased risk of developing peripheral artery disease (PAD). Different studies with diabetes patients with and without any symptoms of PAD have shown to have stiffer femoral and popliteal arteries compared to a healthy control group [2,7,8,9]
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