Beat-to-Beat Estimation of Peripheral Arterial Stiffness From Local PWV for Quantitative Evaluation of Sympathetic Nervous System Activity

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering Vol. 69; no. 9; pp. 2806 - 2816
• Main Authors: Xu, Ziqiang, Sakagawa, Toshiki, Furui, Akira, Jomyo, Shumma, Morita, Masanori, Ando, Masamichi, Tsuji, Toshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.09.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Arteries; Biodegradability; Biodegradable piezoelectric sensor; Biodegradation; Biomarkers; Biomedical measurement; Blood pressure; Electrocutions; Estimation; Indexes; Innervation; local pulse wave velocity (LPWV); Nervous system; Pain; peripheral arterial stiffness; Piezoelectricity; Quantitative analysis; Stiffness; Sympathetic nervous system; sympathetic nervous system activity (SNSA); Temperature measurement; Veins & arteries; Wave velocity; Wrist
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2022.3154398

Objective: Sympathetic nervous system activity (SNSA) can rapidly modulate arterial stiffness, thus making it an important biomarker for SNSA evaluation. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a well-known quantitative indicator of arterial stiffness, but its functional responsivity to SNSA has not been elucidated. This paper reports a method to estimate rapid changes in peripheral arterial stiffness induced by SNSA using local PWV (LPWV) and to further quantify SNSA based on the estimated stiffness. Methods: LPWV was measured from the artery near the wrist to the artery near the forefinger using a biodegradable piezoelectric sensor and a photoplethysmography sensor in an electrocutaneous stimulus experiment in which pain evokes the SNSA. The relationship between LPWV, simultaneously measured peripheral arterial stiffness index, and self-reported pain intensity was quantified. Results: The stiffness estimated by LPWV alone and the stiffness estimated by LPWV and arterial pressure both approximate the peripheral arterial stiffness index ( R 2 = 0.9775 and 0.9719). Pain intensity can be quantitatively evaluated in a sigmoidal relationship by either the estimated stiffness based on LPWV alone ( r = 0.8594) or the estimated stiffness based on LPWV and arterial pressure ( r = 0.9738). Conclusion: Our results demonstrated the validity of LPWV in the quantitative evaluation of SNSA and the optionality of blood pressure correction depending on application scenarios. Significance: This study advances the understanding of sympathetic innervation of peripheral arteries through the sympathetic responsivity of LPWV and contributes a quantitative biomarker for SNSA evaluation.