An Arterial to Peripheral Pulse Wave Velocity Measure

Optical pulse transducers (photoplethysmographs) provide convenient measures of pulse wave velocity (PWV). If measured between arterial and arteriolar sites, PWV should be a sensitive index of sympathetic nervous system influences on the vasculature. Evidence of such a sensitivity was found in a study of rats in which vasoactive drug reactions simulated changes in sympathetic activity. Application of arterial to arteriolar PWV in humans further required the definition of optimal points on the two waveforms to be used in velocity calculations. An examination of different PWV indices supported use of a foot‐to‐foot index. Overall, our results support the promise of optical PWV techniques, but do not yet establish its validity as an index of peripheral sympathetic influences.