NONINVASIVE POWER SPECTRUM ANALYSIS OF RADIAL PRESSURE WAVEFORM FOR ASSESSMENT OF VASCULAR SYSTEM.

Wrist pulse diagnosis has been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for thousands of years, because pulse pressure signal contains a large number of physiological and pathological information of people. In this research, a systematic approach was proposed to analyze the computerized radial pressure waveform, with the focus placed on the power spectrum. We gained the power spectrum by using a modified fast Fourier transform, and the power-spectral characteristics were analyzed and compared. The analyzing program calculated the first peak frequency (F1) and the second peak (F2) automatically, and gained the time of phase shift between two frequencies. They could provide a simple noninvasive means for studying changes in the elastic properties of the vascular system depending on the age and the disease. Namely, the frequency analysis of radial pressure waveform gives new insight into the dynamics of cardiovascular system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]