Modifications of point-to-point pulse wave velocity during cardiac cycle

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is used as an index to evaluate arterial wall elasticity. It is usually calculated from the time shift between the appearance of a particular feature in two signals. Due to changes of internal arterial pressure during the cardiac cycle, the value of PWV is time-dependent. In this study, the data were recorded using multichannel impedance plethysmography. PWV was calculated using two different definitions of the foot of the wave and from the peak. The results obtained showed a significative difference between peak-to-peak velocity (p<0.0001) and foot-to-foot velocity as well as difference between foot-to-foot velocity using the two definitions of the foot (p<0.0001)