Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), 2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2011 Jan;58(1):215-23. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2071385. Epub 2010 Sep 2.
Pulse-wave velocity (PWV) is considered as the gold-standard method to assess arterial stiffness, an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Current available devices that measure PWV need to be operated by skilled medical staff, thus, reducing the potential use of PWV in the ambulatory setting. In this paper, we present a new technique allowing continuous, unsupervised measurements of pulse transit times (PTT) in central arteries by means of a chest sensor. This technique relies on measuring the propagation time of pressure pulses from their genesis in the left ventricle to their later arrival at the cutaneous vasculature on the sternum. Combined thoracic impedance cardiography and phonocardiography are used to detect the opening of the aortic valve, from which a pre-ejection period (PEP) value is estimated. Multichannel reflective photoplethysmography at the sternum is used to detect the distal pulse-arrival time (PAT). A PTT value is then calculated as PTT = PAT - PEP. After optimizing the parameters of the chest PTT calculation algorithm on a nine-subject cohort, a prospective validation study involving 31 normo- and hypertensive subjects was performed. 1/chest PTT correlated very well with the COMPLIOR carotid to femoral PWV (r = 0.88, p < 10 (-9)). Finally, an empirical method to map chest PTT values onto chest PWV values is explored.
脉搏波速度（PWV）被认为是评估动脉僵硬度的金标准方法，动脉僵硬度是心血管发病率和死亡率的独立预测因子。目前可用的测量 PWV 的设备需要由熟练的医务人员操作，因此，降低了 PWV 在非住院环境中的潜在用途。在本文中，我们提出了一种新的技术，通过胸部传感器连续、无人监督地测量中心动脉的脉搏传导时间（PTT）。该技术依赖于测量压力脉冲从左心室起源到胸骨皮肤血管的传播时间。联合胸阻抗心动描记术和心音描记术用于检测主动脉瓣的开放，由此估计射前期（PEP）值。胸骨处的多通道反射光体积描记术用于检测远端脉搏到达时间（PAT）。然后计算 PTT 值作为 PTT = PAT - PEP。在对 9 名受试者队列的胸部 PTT 计算算法的参数进行优化后，进行了一项涉及 31 名正常血压和高血压受试者的前瞻性验证研究。1/胸部 PTT 与 COMPLIOR 颈动脉-股动脉 PWV 非常相关（r = 0.88，p < 10(-9)）。最后，探索了一种将胸部 PTT 值映射到胸部 PWV 值的经验方法。
