Virtual Instrumentation based Non-Invasive Assessment of Arterial Stiffness Using Finger Photoplethysmographic Signal

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is currently the biggest single cause of mortality in the world; hence, the early detection of its onset is vital for effective prevention therapies. Arterial Stiffness (AS) has proved to be a direct indicator for CVD. In this study, a non-invasivemethod for assessing AS using Finger Photoplethysmographic (PPG) Signal is proposed. Virtual Instrumentation(VI) software was used for developing the front panel of the proposed system to estimate the clinical parameters of AS like Augmentation Index (AI), Arterial Stiffness Index (ASI) and pulse rate. AI is the measure of AS derived from the ascending Aortic waveform, ASI indicates degree of arterial elasticity and Pulse rate is the number of pulses per minute. All the 3 parameters are estimated by the proposed algorithm using LabVIEW. PPG signal data is collected for 10 adult volunteers and 15 aged volunteers using the proposed system. Further analysis was done using the developed virtual instrumentation front panel. The results show that the clinical parameters are estimated with good accuracy and repeatability.