Identification of vascular parameters based on the same pressure pulses waves used to measure pulse wave velocity

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a diagnosis method to evaluate the global behavior of arterial parameters which has been used as an indicator of arterial stiffness. It is a noninvasive method based on the acquisition of pressure pulses waveforms on two sites of an arterial segment. In this paper it is shown that, based on a three-element Windkessel model and the same pressure pulse waves acquired to calculate PWV, it is possible to estimate the compliance (C) and associated peripheral resistance (R) of the arterial segment under investigation. Since the arterial hypertension (AH) can be a result of an increased R value and/or decreased C, the estimation of C and R allows the clinicians to prescribe specific treatment to each specific condition. The estimated values of such parameters by the procedure described in the present paper agree with the values previously reported in the literature. PWV values showed good correlation (Pearson coefficient ≥0.7) with the estimated parameters, pointing out that they can be used together to supply the clinician with more information than PWV alone.