title: A non-contact approach for PWV detection: application in a clinical setting.
abstract: A need for screening methods for arteriosclerosis led to the development of several approaches to measure pulse wave velocity (PWV) being indicative of arterial stiffness. Carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV) can be measured between common carotid artery (CCA) and femoral artery (FA) displaying the physiologically important stiffness of the conduit arteries. However, this measurement approach has several disadvantages, and a local PWV-measurement of CCA-stiffness has been proposed as an alternative in the past. In the presented pilot study, laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) is used to measure PWV locally in the CCA (PWVLDV) in 48 patients aged between 48 and 70, with known atherosclerotic arterial disease: stabilized coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebro-vascular disease (CVD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD). Additionally, cfPWV, CCA distensibility coefficient (DC), CCA intima-media thickness (IMT), blood pressure (BP) and age were evaluated. LDV is a valid method for local PWV-measurement. The method is potentially easy to use, and causes no discomfort to the patient. PWVLDV correlates with age (R  =  0.432; p  =  0.002) as reported in related studies using other techniques, and measured values lay between 2.5 and 5.8 m s(-1), which is well in line with literature measures of local PWV in the CCA. In conclusion, PWVLDV potentially is a marker for arterial health, but more research in a larger and more homogeneous patient population is mandatory. In future studies, blood velocity measurements should be incorporated, as well as a reference method such as pulse wave imaging (PWI) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171 B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Adriaan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campo
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heuten
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goovaerts
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ennekens
authors.forename: Christiaan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vrints
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dirckx
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012867:Skin / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D014463:Ultrasonography; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000502:physiology