Dr Gabrielle Laloy-Borgna – Dr Stefan Catheline | Discovery of Flexural Waves in Blood Vessels Could Enable Accurate Cardiovascular Diagnostics

Longitudinal waves are the type of wave that can be used to assess arterial stiffness. They can be visualised as follows. Imagine a force applied to one end of an extended slinky, causing a longitudinal wave to travel along the slinky. However, scientists have recently discovered that two types of waves travel through our blood vessels: longitudinal waves and flexural waves.

A flexural wave can be visualised as follows: If a force acts perpendicular to the length of a slinky, such as someone raising and suddenly dropping one end of it, then a flexural wave will travel along it. The newly discovered type, flexural waves, may be more useful for diagnostic purposes.

The researchers behind this new discovery include Dr Gabrielle Laloy-Borgna and Dr Stefan Catheline of the University of Lyon. Laloy-Borgna and Catheline discovered that our blood vessels demonstrate both longitudinal and flexural waves, at the same time, which may help to explain inconsistencies in wave speed measurements in previous research.

To begin their study, the researchers used a technique called laser Doppler holography to measure blood flow in the retinas of healthy volunteers. They also developed algorithms to analyse and contextualise their measurements. They were successfully able to detect flexural waves in the retinal blood vessels.

Next, the researchers turned to the carotid artery, the large artery in the neck where our pulse can be felt. They used an ultrasound probe to successfully confirm that both longitudinal and flexural waves travel along this artery. Excitingly, it was easier to measure the newly discovered flexural waves more accurately.

This suggests that flexural waves have great promise as a diagnostic measurement, and could assist with more precise assessments of arterial stiffness and cardiovascular health. The measurements could be easily achieved using a standard clinical ultrasound scanner.

The researchers are planning further work to refine the mathematical modelling that supports their measurements. They also wish to establish parameters for ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ wave signatures to aid with diagnostic work. In the future, we may wave goodbye to imprecise cardiovascular diagnostics!