Baroreflex Sensitivity with Pulse Arrival Time

Baroreflex sensitivity is defined as the pulse interval variations with the systolic blood pressure changes. It is known to have the information about autonomic nervous system to regulate the blood pressure and pulse intervals. Pulse arrival time, the time difference between R peak from electrocardiography and the steepest ascending point of pulse waveform, is the cardiovascular parameter that can be measured and calculated in simple and economic way. In this study, the possibility of PAT (pulse arrival time) as a surrogate signal of complicated SBP(systolic blood pressure) waveform was tested. For the controlled breathing with the time period of 10 seconds, ECG (electrocardiography), beat-to-beat blood pressure, and photoplethysmography on a finger were measured. For the validation, we compared the BRS (baroreflex sensitivity) values with conventional method and new method with PAT. The result shows its potential that the suggested method can be used more conveniently. PAT has more integrative information than the SBP based on its inherent properties that are related with sympathetic and para-sympathetic activities.