Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Monitoring Techniques
Summary
Non-invasive monitoring encompasses a suite of techniques that permit the continuous or intermittent assessment of cardiovascular parameters without penetrating the skin or inserting catheters. Advances in optical sensing, electrical bioimpedance, mechanical ballistocardiography and remote imaging have underpinned a shift from clinic-based cuff measurements to wearable and contactless platforms. Optical photoplethysmography sensors embedded in wristbands or rings exploit haemoglobin light absorption to derive pulse rate, blood oxygenation and estimates of blood pressure through pulse wave analysis. Electrical bioimpedance devices measure volumetric changes in tissue to track cardiac stroke volume and arterial pressure variations. Ballistocardiography captures recoil forces generated by cardiac ejection through microelectromechanical sensors. Complementary strategies such as pulse transit time and machine-learning-driven signal processing have enhanced the fidelity of cuffless blood pressure estimation. Meanwhile, camera-based systems leverage ambient light and videoplethysmography for remote heart rate and respiratory monitoring. Collectively, these techniques offer scalable solutions for early detection of hypertension, arrhythmias and heart failure, and support telemedicine, home health care and population-based screening programmes worldwide.
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Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Monitoring Techniques publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring techniques across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Photoplethysmography (PPG): an optical technique measuring blood volume changes in the microvascular bed using light absorption variations.
Bioimpedance: measurement of electrical impedance across tissue to infer volumetric or conductivity changes related to cardiac cycles.
Cuffless monitoring: blood pressure estimation methods that do not require an inflatable cuff, often relying on pulse transit time or signal processing algorithms.
Pulse transit time (PTT): the interval for a pressure wave to travel between two arterial sites, used as a surrogate for blood pressure changes.
References
- Continuous cuffless blood pressure monitoring with a wearable ring bioimpedance device. npj Digital Medicine (2023).
- The use of photoplethysmography for assessing hypertension. npj Digital Medicine (2019).
- Remote plethysmographic imaging using ambient light.. Optics Express (2008).
- Wearable Photoplethysmographic Sensors—Past and Present. Electronics (2014).
- Blood Pressure Estimation from Photoplethysmogram Using a Spectro-Temporal Deep Neural Network. Sensors (2019).
- Cuff-Less and Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring: A Methodological Review. Technologies (2017).
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