Cardiac pulse waves modeling and analysis in laser doppler perfusion signals of the skin microcirculation

Blood pulse waveform relates to the physical properties of the circulatory system, and carries valuable hemodynamic information for the management of cardiovascular patients. In this paper, we present a modeling technique to reconstruct and characterize the cardiac-related pulse waves, observed in laser Doppler flowmetry signals of the peripheral skin perfusion. We tested the sensitivity of the proposed model to physiological alterations of the vascular system, investigating the effect of ageing on a set of parameters describing the reconstructed pulse waves. Waveform data collected from a set of 56 subjects demonstrate the existence of a significant correlation between ageing and the shape of the peripheral perfusion pulse waves, and indicate a possible relationship with the mechanical properties of the vascular tree.