Postprandial superior mesenteric artery blood flow is related to changes in peripheral pulse wave harmonics and heart rate: implications for wearable technology?

Abstract

We studied the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) blood flow responses to three meals of varying caloric value and examined whether these responses could be modeled using changes in heart rate or the peripheral pulse wave harmonic spectrum. We found that both inputs could explain 66–69% of the SMA blood flow variance over 2 h of postprandial recovery. Noninvasive methods may be able to predict SMA blood flow and thus used to measure caloric intake.