Arterial pulse waveform and PWV

Age and stiffness of the arterial wall are two of the many well-established cardiovascular risk factors. Among the various cardiovascular risk factors, age is proven to have a positive correlation to the stiffness of the arterial wall of individuals. In this Final Year Project (FYP), measurements of arterial pulse waveform and Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) were investigated for various age groups to establish a link to the stiffness of arterial wall. The main objective of this FYP is to formulate Pressure Independent Index (PIIs) obtained from the radial arterial pulse waveform and to establish a link to the measured corresponding PWV. This study sets to formulate various Pressure Independent Indexes (PIIs) from the radial pulse waveform of test subjects. The 5 different PIIs formulated include (D*/S*), (D*/A), [(S*+D*)/A], (RDT/RST), and (RST/RSQ). Correlations between these PIIs and PWV were investigated. In this FYP, radial arterial pulse waveforms and PWV of 31 test subjects, aged 10 to 90, were collected. In conjunction with 9 other test subjects’ data collected in the previous FYP study, analysis of the PIIs and PWV were carried out. The two statistical methods, (i) linear regression line and (ii) single-factor ANOVA, were applied to evaluate the significance of links between PIIs and PWV. All the 5 formulated PIIs were found to have a good correlation with both age and the corresponding PWV. The ratio of (D*/A) was found to have the strongest correlation with age and PWV. Coefficient of determination values of r2 = 0.95815 and r2 = 0.98564 I were obtained for age against (D*/A) and PWV against (D*/A) respectively. The coefficients of determination r2 of other formulated PIIs also have a positive and strong correlation with values ranging from 0.8462 to 0.93709. With a strong link established between PIIs and PWV, recommendation for a Stroke Index, a cardiovascular-related disease is proposed for further investigation.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering