Real-time flow impedance evaluation method for ultra-fast early detection of aneurysmal diseases

Abstract Objective A novel method to measure the real-time input flow impedance of thoracic aorta aneurysm (TAA) was developed. Methods The fundamental of real-time input flow impedance was described. The simultaneously measured blood pressure and volumetric flow rate were obtained and used for the calculation. The input flow impedance was then presented in its complexed format: real and imaginary; modulus and phase in the time domain. Results Unique features of real-time input flow impedance were extracted to correlate with the TAA formation. It showed that the trough of modulus located at the end of each cardiac cycle has different values, which are proportional to the sizes of TAAs. Conclusions A real-time input flow impedance of the cardiovascular system was presented in this paper. We postulate that the proposed fluid mechanics model has the potential to analyze the pathomechanics of aneurysmal diseases in real-time.