Assessing left ventricular ejection time from wrist cuff pulse waveforms: Algorithm and evaluation

Left ventricular ejection time (LVET) is an important component of systolic time intervals. It has been used as a surrogate for left ventricular contractility and stroke volume. We developed a method for the assessment of LVET from wrist cuff pulse waveforms. The waveforms are obtained from a partially inflated cuff held at the level of the heart. Each test involved acquisition of 10 second sample of waveform data. The data were processed after each test by specially developed software algorithm. Thirty tests were evaluated and compared with predicted values. The results showed the mean value of computed LVET equal to 309 ms and mean value of predicted LVET equal to 304 ms. We concluded that our method has the potential for use as a stand-alone method for evaluation of left ventricular contractility and for the determination of stroke volume.