Improved Method for Measuring the Pulse Wave Propagation Velocity for Palpable Arteries V. E. Antsiperov a , M. V. Danilychev, G. K. Mansurov and E. R. Pavlyukova Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation Keywords: Arterial Blood Pressure Sensor, Arterial Walls Stiffness, Pulse Wave Propagation Velocity. Abstract: The results, regarding the development and testing of a quantitative method for diagnosing the condition of the arterial walls, based on the application of a three-channel pneumatic sensor of an original design, are presented. The possibility of using the data obtained by this device in combination with synchronous ECG measurement to determine the velocity of pulse wave propagation between two cross sections of the selected artery has been demonstrated. One of the key points of this technology is the selection of a specific pulse wave element as a reference mark for tracking the signal transit time relative to the R-peak of the synchronous ECG. After collecting measurement statistics, the average values of the wave propagation time between the selected points of the artery, considering the variability of the front delay values, are used to directly calculate the propagation velocity of the pulse wave in the investigated area of the artery. The value of the pulse wave propagation velocity in return is an objective parameter that characterizes the degree of elasticity (or stiffness) of the artery walls and their behaviour in different physiological situations. 1 INTRODUCTION In previous articles (Mansurov, 2019) (Antsiperov, 2020), the authors have developed and experimentally investigated a line of unique sensors for recording the blood pressure continuous dynamics. Good results concerning the recording data quality have been achieved with the development of a three-channel pneumatic sensor for continuous non- invasive blood pressure monitoring (Mansurov, 2019). Thanks to the addition to the sensor of a parallel channel for synchronous recording of the ECG signal, it became possible to for the combined device to measure the absolute timing characteristics of the pressure pulse waves, the main of which is the pulse wave velocity (PWV). On the basis of the latter, it is possible to assess the stiffness of the arterial walls, which is directly related to the early manifestations of symptoms of atherosclerosis. Undoubtedly, the most important directions in the fight against atherosclerosis are its prevention and early diagnosis. In the early stages, even before the appearance of obvious clinical signs, atherosclerosis is characterized by an outwardly weak loss of the main functions of the blood vessels. First, this is a https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6770-1317 manifested in the loss of elasticity by the vascular walls. The process of increasing the stiffness of the arterial walls leads to an increase in blood pressure (BP), narrowing of the lumen of the arteries and a deterioration in blood circulation in general. It has long been established that one of the most adequate methods for assessing arterial wall stiffness (gold standard) is the measurement of pulse wave velocity (PWV) value. Physically, PWV is the group velocity of a pressure wave propagating along the elastic walls of an artery because of the ejection of a mass of blood from the left ventricle of the heart during systole. Within the framework of the first order, linear approximation, the theory of hydroelasticity gives the following value for the velocity  of an elastic wave (Korteweg, 1878): =ට ா௛ ఘ஽ , (1) where E denotes the effective (tangential) Young's modulus, parameters ℎ and  are the wall thickness and vessel diameter in rest, respectively, and  is the blood density in the vessel. It follows from (1), which is known as Moens-Korteweg equation, that a growth Antsiperov, V., Danilychev, M., Mansurov, G. and Pavlyukova, E. Improved Method for Measuring the Pulse Wave Propagation Velocity for Palpable Arteries. DOI: 10.5220/0010832100003123 In Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2022) - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, pages 149-154 ISBN: 978-989-758-552-4; ISSN: 2184-4305 Copyright c  2022 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved 149