Observation of natural flexural pulse waves in retinal and carotid arteries for wall elasticity estimation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37343110.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adf1783 and PMC identifier 10284541.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The risk of cardiovascular events is linked to arterial elasticity that can be estimated from the pulse wave velocity. This symmetric wave velocity is related to the wall elasticity through the Moens-Korteweg equation. However, ultrasound imaging techniques need improved accuracy, and optical measurements on retinal arteries produce inconsistent results. Here, we report the first observation of an antisymmetric pulse wave: the flexural pulse wave. An optical system performs in vivo wave velocity measurements on retinal arteries and veins. Velocity estimation ranges between 1 and 10 millimeter per second. The theory of guided waves confirms the existence of this wave mode and its low velocity. Natural flexural waves can also be detected at the bigger scale of a carotid artery using ultrafast ultrasound imaging. This second natural pulse wave has great potential of becoming a biomarker of blood vessel aging.
Medical subject headings
- Pulse Wave Analysis
- Carotid Arteries