Theory of Dynamic Pulsatile Spectroscopy for photoplethysmographic signals analysis

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a technique that uses light to non-invasively obtain a volumetric measurement of an organ with each cardiac cycle. Pulse Oximetry (PO) is an empirical technique which allows the arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO
₂
) evaluation from the PPG signals. There have been many reports in the literature suggesting that other arterial blood chemical components can be evaluated from the PPG signals. Most attempts to perform such evaluation on empirical bases have failed, especially for components concentrations. This paper introduces a non-empirical rational theory called Dynamic Pulsatile Spectroscopy (DPS) which can be used to analytically investigate the phenomena of PPG. The DPS theory provides the mathematically rigid method of how PPG signals can be used for arterial blood analysis to evaluate its chemical component concentrations and molar fractions spectroscopically and transcutaneously. It also highlights what other signals might be required for such evaluation. DPS opens the possibility of extending PPG application for blood analysis beyond conventional PO. The DPS basic principles are introduced in this paper.