Graphene-Based Pressure Sensor Application in Non-Invasive Pulse Wave Velocity Continuous Estimation

Monitoring the cardiovascular health of patients and early diagnosis of heart diseases are highly sought after as they can represent a true cornerstone in tomorrow's healthcare surveillance. Here, an unprecedented non-invasive device prototype is reported for pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement based on a piezoelectric graphene pressure sensor. PWV is a critical health indicator that estimates arterial stiffness by measuring the velocity of arterial pulse flow through the circulatory system. The sensor incorporates advanced electronic components and data analysis tools, enabling the measurement of pulse transit time (PTT), that is the time required for the pulse wave to travel between carotid and femoral artery sites. Significantly, the outcomes obtained through the novel method, which involved monitoring 10 patients within clinical environment, show statistical similarity to results obtained using established technology for the PWV estimation such as SphygmoCor. In particular, the mean difference between measurements done with the two techniques resulted in 0.1 m s−1, that is <2%, underscoring the reliability of the novel device. The technology holds big promise for enhancing cardiovascular healthcare delivery: it is wearable, potentially exploitable by a non-expert user, and it needs to be powered with just 0.2 V, thus it can become compatible even with applications in point-of-care settings.