This paper presents a low cost, noninvasive, clinical-grade Pulse Wave Velocity evaluation device. The proposed system relies on a simultaneous acquisition of femoral and carotid pulse waves to improve estimation accuracy and correctness. The sensors used are two high precision MEMS force sensors, encapsulated in two ergonomic probes, and connected to the main unit. Data are then wirelessly transmitted to a standard laptop, where a dedicated graphical user interface (GUI) runs for analysis and recording. Besides the interface, the Athos system provides a Matlab algorithm to process the signals quickly and achieve a reliable PWV assessment. To better compare the results at the end of each analysis, a detailed report is generated, including all the relevant examination information (subject data, mean PTT, and obtained PWV). A pre-clinical study was conducted to validate the system by realizing several Pulse Wave Velocity measurements on ten heterogeneous healthy subjects of different ages. The collected results were then compared with those measured by a well-established and largely more expensive clinical device (SphygmoCor).

中文翻译：

---

用于临床脉搏波速度评估的新型无创系统：Athos 设备

本文介绍了一种低成本、无创、临床级脉搏波速度评估装置。所提出的系统依赖于股骨和颈动脉脉搏波的同时采集来提高估计的准确性和正确性。所使用的传感器是两个高精度 MEMS 力传感器，封装在两个符合人体工程学的探头中，并连接到主机。然后将数据无线传输到标准笔记本电脑，在那里运行专用的图形用户界面 (GUI) 进行分析和记录。除了接口之外，Athos 系统还提供了一个 Matlab 算法来快速处理信号并实现可靠的 PWV 评估。为了在每次分析结束时更好地比较结果，会生成详细报告，包括所有相关检查信息（受试者数据、平均 PTT 和获得的 PWV）。进行了一项临床前研究，通过对十名不同年龄的异质健康受试者进行多次脉搏波速度测量来验证该系统。然后将收集到的结果与由成熟且价格昂贵的临床设备 (SphygmoCor) 测量的结果进行比较。