Multi-Site Photoplethysmographic and Electrocardiographic System for Arterial Stiffness and Cardiovascular Status Assessment

The development and validation of a system for multi-site photoplethysmography (PPG) and electrocardiography (ECG) is presented. The system could acquire signals from 8 PPG probes and 10 ECG leads. Each PPG probe was constituted of a light-emitting diode (LED) source at a wavelength of 940 nm and a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) detector, located in a back-reflection recording configuration. In order to ensure proper optode-to-skin coupling, the probe was equipped with insufflating cuffs. The high number of PPG probes allowed us to simultaneously acquire signals from multiple body locations. The ECG provided a reference for single-pulse PPG evaluation and averaging, allowing the extraction of indices of cardiovascular status with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Firstly, the system was characterized on optical phantoms. Furthermore, in vivo validation was performed by estimating the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a metric associated with cardiovascular status. The validation was performed on healthy volunteers to assess the baPWV intra- and extra-operator repeatability and its association with age. Finally, the baPWV, evaluated via the developed instrumentation, was compared to that estimated with a commercial system used in clinical practice (Enverdis Vascular Explorer). The validation demonstrated the system’s reliability and its effectiveness in assessing the cardiovascular status in arterial ageing.