Evaluation of Arterial Endothelial Function Using Transit Times of Artificially Induced Pulses

Background: Impairment of arterial endothelial function is an early event in atherosclerosis and correlates with the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The most widely employed non-invasive measure of endothelial function involves brachial artery (BA) diameter measurement using ultrasound imaging before and after several minutes of blood flow occlusion. The change in arterial diameter is a measure of flow-mediated vasorelaxation (FMVR). The high between-laboratory variability of results and cost of instrumentation render this technique unsuitable for routine clinical use. Methods and results: We induce artificial pulses at the superficial radial artery using a linear actuator. An ultrasonic Doppler stethoscope detects these pulses 10-30cm proximal to the point of pulse induction. The delay between pulse application and detection provides the pulse transit time (PTT). By measuring PTT before and after 5 minutes of BA occlusion and ensuing reactive hyperemia, FMVR may be mea...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: ISBI
• Authors: Jonathan Maltz, Thomas Budinger
• Keywords: Arterial Endothelial Function, BA Diameter Measurements, ISBI 2004, Medical Imaging, Pulse Transit Time