Premium
Dual impedance cardiography: An inexpensive and reliable method to assess arterial stiffness
Author(s) -
Scudder Mark R.,
Jennings J. Richard,
DuPont Caitlin M.,
Lockwood Kimberly G.,
Gadagkar Shrenik H.,
Best Belen,
Jasti Swetha P.,
Gianaros Peter J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.13772
Subject(s) - impedance cardiography , pulse wave velocity , arterial stiffness , cardiology , medicine , bland–altman plot , psychology , blood pressure , heart rate , stroke volume , nuclear medicine , limits of agreement
Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a common measure of arterial stiffness. Non‐invasive methods to measure PWV are widely used in biomedical studies of aging and cardiovascular disease, but they are rarely used in psychophysiology. Barriers to wider use include the prohibitive costs of specialized equipment and need for trained technicians (e.g., ultrasonographers). Here, we describe an impedance cardiography method to measure PWV. By this method, impedance signals are dually collected from the thorax and calf. Combined with ensemble averaging of vascular signals, this dual impedance cardiography (d‐ICG) method allows for the measurement of aortic flow onset and the arrival time of peripheral pulse waveforms to compute PWV. In a community sample of adults (aged 19–78 years), PWV measured with d‐ICG exhibited a strong positive correlation with age. Moreover, age‐specific mean PWV values were within the normative reference intervals established by large scale studies using other techniques. PWV derived from d‐ICG exhibited high test‐retest reliability across several days, as well as excellent inter‐rater reliability. Last, PWV exhibited expected associations with known cardiovascular disease risk factors and indicators of autonomic cardiovascular control. d‐ICG is an inexpensive and reliable method to assess arterial stiffness.