Effects of heart rate on the pulse waveform measured at the left common carotid artery

Pulse wave evaluation is a convenient way for screening arteriosclerosis. The pulse wave, obtained from the intravascular pressure changes, is composed of two kinds of displacement waves: incident and reflected waves. The measurement is performed on the skin of the neck at the left common carotid artery. The attenuation of the reflected wave during propagation varies according to the stiffness of the artery. We have proposed a separation method of the two waves using the observed pulse waves and the blood flow velocity. In a previous study, a convincing correlation between the age of the subjects and the maximum amplitude of the measured reflected was observed (R²=0.65). However, the data displayed strong dispersion. Therefore, the reflected wave and the heart rate effect on its characteristics were further investigated. The effect of the heart rate on the reflected wave amplitude was found to be small.