Towards Non-Invasive Pressure Assessment

In clinical practice, ultrasound is frequently applied to non-invasively assess blood velocity, blood volume flow and blood vessel wall properties such as vessel wall thickness and vessel diameter waveforms. To convert these properties into relevant biomechanical properties that are related to cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as elastic modulus and compliance of the vessel wall, local pressure has to be assessed simultaneously with vessel wall thickness and vessel diameter waveforms. Additionally, accurate estimates of vascular impedance (transfer function between pressure and blood flow) can be a valuable tool for the estimation of the condition of the vessel, e.g., to diagnose stenosis. Studies of arterial impedance in humans, however, are hampered by the lack of reliable non-invasive techniques to simultaneously record pressure and flow locally as a function of time. Local pressure assessment together with flow has great potential for improving the ability to diagnose and monitor CVD.