Measuring pulse wave velocity using ultrasound

Abstract

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness and a cardiovascular disease risk factor. Accurate PWV estimation is difficult due to complex arterial dynamics, such as longitudinal motion and natural tissue oscillations. This present disclosure relates to a robust, motion-resistant PWV estimation framework including: 1) tracking and compensating for arterial longitudinal wall motions, 2) suppressing undulating arterial motion via common mode rejection, and 3) enhancing differential signals to extract wall expansion. In vitro experiments with induced lateral motion indicate the framework's PWV estimates (6.19±0.33 m/s) closely matched reference values (6.26±0.12 m/s; error: 1.1%), outperforming methods without motion compensation (4.46±1.78 m/s; error: 28.8%). In vivo trials with five healthy subjects showed an average PWV of 4.18±0.56 m/s using the motion-resistant method, compared to 2.54±0.95 m/s without motion compensation (p<0.005). This framework enhances PWV estimation reliability, offering clinical potential for better arterial stiffness assessment and cardiovascular risk stratification.