An adaptive algorithm for accurate estimation of pulse-wave velocity and attenuation

A new approach for accurate estimation of pulse wave velocity (PWV) and attenuation is introduced. PWV has been invoked as an important parameter for quantitatively assessment of the elasticity of arterial walls. By transforming the wave harmonic component from real to complex, the method described here can precisely extract the phase difference and the modulus difference between neighboring signals, thus ensures accurate estimation of the velocity and the attenuation of wave component. Analysis and simulation results reveal that the accuracy and the needed data amount of the algorithm are independent of sampling frequency, while convergence time shows dependence upon sampling frequency. The higher the sampling frequency, the shorter the convergence time. More importantly, within one or two sampled points, the estimation has already reached efficient accuracy