Overview of project

A measure of vascular stiffness has a high potential for risk stratification of future cardiovascular and other life-threatening events. Several studies have found an association between cardiovascular disease and carotid artery stiffness. Thus, frequent arterial stiffness measurements are more effective for educating oneself about vascular health and tracking the efficacy of lifestyle treatment-induced improvements over time. In this regard, empowering technologies for routine examinations at home by individuals themselves or in primary care settings by general practitioners would allow for such frequent assessments. Commercially available measurement technologies, such as SphygmoCor, PulsePen, MRI, ultrasound, and others, are costly and require skilled operators to obtain reliable PWV measurements. Furthermore, the size of the equipment and its associated measurement system restricts their use in the home environment and in wearable devices.

To address this, we developed a wearable PPG neck band and femoral pulse detector that can continuously measure the carotid- femoral PWV.