Image-free ultrasound for local and regional vascular stiffness assessment: the ARTSENS Plus.

Abstract

The combined assessment of vascular health markers is crucial for identifying the cumulative burden of vascular risk factors early on, as well as the extent of vascular aging for effective prediction of future cardiovascular events. This work addresses the need for a currently nonexistent device or system that facilitates such combined assessment in clinical practice and large-scale screening settings. We report an image-free ultrasound device - ARTSENS Plus - developed for the measurement of local and regional arterial stiffness, central and peripheral blood pressure (BP), and vessel dimensions, all in one examination. A preclinical study on 90 asymptomatic individuals verified the device's functionality under ARTERY Society guidelines. The device's accuracy of stiffness measures was validated against the reference measures. The interoperator and intraoperator variability was less than 7%. Carotid artery's lumen diameter and local stiffness indices and carotid-femoral regional pulse wave velocity showed excellent agreement with the references (absolute errors were less than 4.1, 9, and 4.1%, respectively). The carotid SBP was 10.02% lower than that of the brachial artery, as expected. The study demonstrated the device's ability to perform an effortless and reliable evaluation of the local and regional vascular stiffness and central BP with an accuracy that meets clinical standards.