Development of clinical grade Pulse Wave Velocity estimation equipment using MEMS microphones

The scope of this thesis work is to developed a system for Pulse Wave Velocity(PWV) estimation using phonocardiogram(PCG) signal. This parameter is a measure of arterial vessel stiffness and it allows to evaluate the pressure wave propagation velocity along the arterial tree. The state of health is given by the arterial pulse speed, so PWV is defined as reliable parameter capable to predict cardiovascular risk. Over the years, several techniques have been implemented to extract features from the cardiovascular system in a non-invasive way, but they are very expensive and difficult to use in the daily practice. For this reason, the aim of this work is to developed a new low-cost and easy to use system for PWV evaluation. The signal chosen for this parameter extraction is the PCG, a visual representation of sounds correlated with the heart pumping action. The final goal is to use MEMS microphones placed in the peripheral site (distal point) and near the heart (proximal point) in order to perform PWV extraction without manual intervention. In this way, operator’s skills are not impacting the measurement results.