NONINVASIVE DETERMINATION OF ARTERIAL PRESSURE-DEPENDENT COMPLIANCE IN YOUNG SUBJECTS USING AN ARTERIAL TONOMETER

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine the pressure-dependent compliance of human radial artery in young subjects. The arterial blood pressure and the change in vessel volume of the radial artery in ten normotensive volunteers were simultaneously measured with an arterial tonometer. The arterial global compliance was calculated as the division of change in vessel volume by the difference between the systolic and the diastolic blood pressures. The arterial global compliance measured from the ten young volunteers was found to be 4.645 ± 2.739 uL/mmHg. When the arterial pressure-volume relation was assumed to be of natural logarithm, a correlation coefficient of 0.996 was yielded by curve-fit methods. Similarly, when the arterial compliance-pressure relation was fit in a natural logarithmic form, a correlation coefficient of 0.998 was obtained. In conclusion, the arterial vessel volume varies with the arterial blood pressure logarithmicly and positively, whereas a logarithmic and negative relation between the arterial global compliance and arterial blood pressure is present in human radial arteries. Thus, it is for all time necessary to take the pressure level into account if we want to compare compliance values obtained from distinct physiological situations.