A central aortic pulse wave velocity measurement device

描述（由申请人提供）：最近，大型中央管道血管的僵硬度增加已成为心血管疾病的重要风险因素。导管血管僵硬的异常非常普遍，并且与几种重要的临床病症相关，包括高血压、糖尿病、绝经和高龄。增加的导管血管硬度增加心脏的负荷，促进动脉粥样硬化形成，并与心肌梗死、中风和心力衰竭的风险增加有关。许多干预措施显示出在降低管道血管刚度方面的初步疗效。然而，在这个竞技场的大规模临床研究已严重限制了缺乏一个强大的，可重复的，有效的方法，快速，准确和无创评估主动脉僵硬。考虑到与增加的管道血管刚度相关的临床问题的严重性，迫切需要一种无创器械，该器械将允许名义上经过培训的操作者准确评估主动脉刚度。Cardiovascular Engineering，Inc.建议开发一种非侵入性的光电容积描记装置，该装置将允许名义上经过培训的操作者快速且可重复地评估中心主动脉脉搏波速度，这是主动脉僵硬度的直接指标。这项创新技术将能够在初级保健环境中进行准确的诊断和风险分层，并将促进进一步的研究，旨在评估可能降低管道血管硬度的干预措施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Increased stiffness of large central conduit vessels has recently emerged as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Abnormalities in conduit vessel stiffness are highly prevalent and are associated with several important clinical conditions including hypertension, diabetes, menopause, and advancing age. Increased conduit vessel stiffness increases load on the heart, promotes atherogenesis and is associated with increased risk for myocardial infarction, stroke and heart failure. A number of interventions show preliminary efficacy in reducing conduit vessel stiffness. However, large-scale clinical research in this arena has been severely limited by lack of a robust, reproducible, validated method for quickly, accurately and noninvasively assessing aortic stiffness. Given the magnitude of the clinical problems associated with increased conduit vessel stiffness, there is a critical need for a noninvasive device that will allow a nominally trained operator to accurately assess aortic stiffness. Cardiovascular Engineering, Inc., proposes to develop a noninvasive, photoplethysmographic device that will allow nominally trained operators to quickly and reproducibly assess central aortic pulse wave velocity, a direct indicator of aortic stiffness. This innovative technology will enable accurate diagnosis and risk stratification in a primary care setting and will facilitate further research aimed at evaluating interventions that may reduce conduit vessel stiffness.