Abstract

This thesis describes the laser Doppler technique based on a self-mixing effect in a diode laser to noninvasive cardiovascular pulse detection in a human wrist above the radial artery. The main applications of self-mixing interferometry described in this thesis in addition to pulse detection are arterial pulse shape and autonomic regulation measurements. The elastic properties of the arterial wall are evaluated and compared to pulse wave velocity variation at different pressure conditions inside the radial artery.

The main advantages of self-mixing interferometry compared to conventional interferometers are that the measurement set up is simple, because basically only one optical component, the laser diode, is needed. The use of fewer components decreases the price of the device, thus making it inexpensive to use. Moreover, an interferometer can be implemented in a small size and it is easy to control because only one optical axis has to be adjusted. In addition, an accuracy, which corresponds to half of the wavelength of the light source, can be achieved. These benefits make this technique interesting for application to the measurement of different parameters of the cardiovascular pulse.

In this thesis, measurement of three different parameters from cardiovascular pulsation in the wrist is studied. The first study considers arterial pulse shape measurement. It was found that an arterial pulse shape reconstructed from the Doppler signal correlates well to the pulse shape of a blood pressure pulse measured with a commercial photoplethysmograph. The second study considers measurement of autonomic regulation using the Doppler technique. It was found that the baroreflex part of autonomic regulation can be measured from the displacement of the arterial wall, which is affected by blood pressure variation inside the artery. In the third study, self-mixing interferometry is superimposed to evaluate the elastic properties of the arterial wall. It was found that the elastic modulus of the arterial wall increases as blood pressure increases. Correlations between measurements and theoretical values were found but deviation in measured values was large. It was noticed that the elastic modulus of the arterial wall and pulse wave velocity behave similarly as a function of blood pressure. When the arterial pressure increases, both the elastic modulus and pulse wave velocity reach higher values than in lower pressure.