Key result
Dual-site ultrasound accurately estimates pulse wave velocity and systolic blood pressure in vitro.
Why the study?
Properties of vascular stiffness can be monitored by ultrasound, but few studies have evaluated estimating both pulse wave velocity and blood pressure.
Mean Difference: 0.3 (95% CI -1.9–2.5)
A dual-site ultrasound system using tangent intersection and linear diameter-to-pressure correlation accurately estimates pulse wave velocity and blood pressure in an in vitro model, showing potential for non-invasive vascular stiffness assessment.
Promising in vitro accuracy extends technical feasibility for non-invasive PWV/BP assessment; leaves open clinical translation pending in vivo validation.
Background Morphological and functional properties of vascular stiffness (intima-media thickness, instantaneous diameter, pulse wave velocity, blood pressure) could be monitored solely using ultrasound. Yet, few ultrasound studies estimate both pulse wave velocity and blood pressure. This study presents an in vitro evaluation of a dual-site ultrasound system for the simultaneous estimation of pulse wave velocity and blood pressure from radio-frequency ultrasound data. Methods The circulatory mock-loop incorporating an arm phantom was used as a controlled test environment. Reference pressure and pulse wave velocity values were obtained via a commercial pressure sensor and the PulsePen device (DiaTecne s.r.l., Milano, Italy), respectively. The custom dual-site ultrasound system (6 cm distance between probes) was evaluated across pressures ranging from hypotension to hypertensive crisis. To assess the most accurate estimation strategy, pulse wave velocity was estimated using multiple signal processing approaches, including derivative-based, pulse-feature, cross-correlation, and tangent intersection methods, while blood pressure was derived from linear, exponential, and logarithmic models relating diameter waveforms to pressure. The in vitro mock-loop was improved using a viscous glycerol solution as a blood-mimicking fluid instead of deionized water. Results The tangent intersection method yielded pulse wave velocity values most consistent with the tonometric reference (0.3 m/s mean error). For blood pressure estimation, the linear equation achieved the best performance, with − 1.8 ± 1.1 mmHg systolic blood pressure mean difference to the reference. Using 40 wt% glycerol instead of deionized water, the mean pulse wave velocity was reduced from 15.6 ± 4.0 to 10.9 ± 2.4 m/s, comparable to in vivo data. Conclusion Dual-site ultrasound, paired with tangent intersection and linear diameter-to-pressure correlation, shows promise for non-invasive, accurate assessment of vascular stiffness and blood pressure, supporting its potential clinical application in cardiovascular risk screening.
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Seabra et al. (2026) studied Vascular stiffness and blood pressure assessment. Dual-site ultrasound system vs. Commercial pressure sensor and tonometric reference was evaluated on Pulse wave velocity (PWV) mean difference compared to tonometric reference (MD 0.3 m/s, 95% CI -1.9 to 2.5). A dual-site ultrasound system using tangent intersection and linear diameter-to-pressure correlation accurately estimated pulse wave velocity (mean error 0.3 m/s) and systolic blood pressure (mean difference -1.8 mmHg) in an in vitro mock-loop.
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