Elisabeth Borges

Assessment of Hemodynamic Parameters: New Approach to the Use of Piezoelectric Sensors Elisabeth Borges

Over the last years, several studies pointed out arterial stiffness as a major cause of cardiovascular risk. This parameter has been widely investigated and is usually associated with high blood pressure and aging. Measuring pulse wave velocity is considered the standard method to assess the arterial stiffness. Although this hemodynamic parameter is well accepted by the medical/scientific community, the equipments available in the market are very expensive and difficult to operate, even by skilled personnel. Hereby, devices are still hard to find not only in medical offices but also in clinical/hospital unities. This context has been the main motivation to address the problem of finding new methods for the assessment of arterial stiffness and other associated hemodynamic parameters, as is the case of the augmentation index, ankle-arm index and others. This work was centred on the development of a new approach to the use of piezoelectric sensors with related test and signal conditioning circuits, as well as on the development of a software analysis tool. Tests with humans are also included just to demonstrate that results are consistent and reproducible.