A central aortic pulse wave velocity measurement device

描述(由申请人提供)：大型中央导管血管僵硬的增加最近已成为心血管疾病的一个重要危险因素。导管血管僵硬异常非常普遍，并与几种重要的临床症状有关，包括高血压、糖尿病、绝经和高龄。导管血管硬度的增加增加了心脏的负荷，促进了动脉粥样硬化的形成，并与心肌梗死、中风和心力衰竭的风险增加有关。一些干预措施在减少导管血管僵硬方面显示了初步效果。然而，由于缺乏一种可靠的、可重复性的、有效的方法来快速、准确和非侵入性地评估主动脉硬度，这一领域的大规模临床研究受到了严重的限制。考虑到与导管血管硬度增加相关的临床问题的严重性，迫切需要一种非侵入性设备，使名义上受过培训的操作员能够准确地评估主动脉硬度。心血管工程公司建议开发一种非侵入性的光体积描记设备，它将允许名义上受过培训的操作员快速和可重复地评估中央主动脉脉搏波速度，这是主动脉僵硬的直接指标。这项创新技术将在初级保健环境中实现准确的诊断和风险分层，并将促进旨在评估可能降低导管血管僵硬的干预措施的进一步研究。

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.