Pulse Wave Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Based on Hemodynamics Principles**

Abstract

From the perspective of hemodynamics principles, the pressure pulse wave marked in the radial artery is the comprehensive result of pulse wave propagation and reflection in the arterial conduit. The most common pulse charts (also called pulse wave) obtained by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pulse-taking technique, if quantified and standardized, may become a universal and valuable diagnostic tool. The methods of feature extraction of TCM pulse charts currently involve time-domain analysis, frequency-domain analysis and time-frequency joint analysis. The feature parameters extracted by these methods have no definite clinical significance. Therefore, these feature parameters cannot essentially differentiate different types of TCM pulse. In this chapter, the harmonic analysis method was applied to analyze the common TCM pulse charts (plain pulse, wiry pulse, slippery pulse). Velocity and reflectivity coefficients of pulse were calculated. We found that wave velocities and reflection coefficients of different TCM pulse have different distributions. Furthermore, we studied the clinical significance of velocities and reflection coefficients. The result suggests that wave velocity and reflection coefficient are the feature parameters of TCM pulse with physiological and pathological significance, which can be used to interpret formation of Chinese medicine pulse. Our study reveals the mechanism of TCM pulse formation and promotes non-invasive TCM pulse diagnostic method.