Arterial stiffness is recognised increasingly as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. In psrticular, arterial stiffness causes elevation in central systolic and pulse pressure that puts an extra demand on the left ventricle and increases the possibility for heart failure, heart attacks and stroke.
TesioMed Arteriograph™ ( Pulse Wave Reader) is world-wide patented, innovative portable sytem which examines the flexibility of the arteries and can help defind the “age of the arteries” in terms of their stiffness which is growing together with aging.
Artreiograph provides an easy, fast, accurate and user-independent method for measuring all parameters relevant to arterial function:
❑ aortic pulse wave velocity (PWVao),
❑ augmentation index (Aix) and
❑ central blood pressure values.
Arterial stiffness measurement in medical practice
Interest in the human pulse dates back to ancient Egyptian writings describing the link between heart function and the arterial pulse.1 However, a better understanding that the arterial pulse is formed during cardiac systole came in play only in the 17th century when William Harvey published his work “An Anatomical Essay on the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals”.2 In the 19th century there were further attempts to create models of vessel mechanics as well as devices that could detect the pulsatile excursion.3 Clinical examination of arterial elasticity and Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) expanded during the early 20th century with Otto Frank’s development of the mercury column sphygmomanometer.4
Since that time PWV has been used as a component in measurong arterial stiffness but only during last 30 years noninvasive approaches was adopted in clinical assessment of patients. Recently published studies (ASCOT and CAFE) have shown that classical blood pressure measurements which measure blood pressure only on the brachial artery are not satisfactory.This means that systolic aortic blood pressure should also be considered in BP lowering therapy.One of the available devices for evaluation of the arterial function is the TensioClinic Arteriograph, which has been validated against systems by Sphygmocor and Complior, widely used for measurement of PWV and Aix.
1.Vlachopoulos C, O’Rourke M: Genesis of the normal and abnormal arterial pulse. Curr Probl Cardiol25 :303– 367,2000
2.Harvey W: Anatomical essay on the movement of the heart and blood in animals. In: The Circulation of the Blood and Other Writings, edited by Harvey W, Translated by Franklin KJ, London, Everymans Library,1963
3.Asmar R: History. In: Arterial Stiffness and Pulse Wave Velocity: Clinical Applications, 1st Ed.. Paris, Elsevier,1999 , pp9– 10
4.O’Rourke MF: History. In: The Arterial Pulse, 1st Ed., edited by O’Rourke MF, Kelly R, Avolio AP, Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger,1992 , pp186– 192