Arterial Pulse Wave Velocity Signal Reconstruction Using Low Sampling Rates

Abstract

Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) analysis is valuable for assessing arterial stiffness and cardiovascular health and potentially for estimating blood pressure cufflessly. However, conventional PWV analysis from two transducers spaced closely poses challenges in data management, battery life, and developing the device for continuous real-time applications together along an artery, which typically need data to be recorded at high sampling rates. Specifically, although a pulse signal consists of low-frequency components when used for applications such as determining heart rate, the pulse transit time for transducers near each other along an artery takes place in the millisecond range, typically needing a high sampling rate. To overcome this issue, in this study, we present a novel approach that leverages the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem and reconstruction techniques for signals produced by bioimpedance transducers closely spaced along a radial artery. Specifically, we recorded bioimpedance artery pulse signals at a low sampling rate, reducing the data size and subsequently algorithmically reconstructing these signals at a higher sampling rate. We were able to retain vital transit time information and achieved enhanced precision that is comparable to the traditional high-rate sampling method. Our research demonstrates the viability of the algorithmic method for enabling PWV analysis from low-sampling-rate data, overcoming the constraints of conventional approaches. This technique has the potential to contribute to the development of cardiovascular health monitoring and diagnosis using closely spaced wearable devices for real-time and low-resource PWV assessment, enhancing patient care and cardiovascular disease management.