Arterial stiffness is a key parameter in evaluating vascular health. When locally evaluated at carotid site, it well correlates with the stage of degenerative atherosclerotic process and it could be considered an useful indicator of global cardiovascular risk.

At the present, the state-of-the-art methods for evaluation of local carotid stiffness are based on the analysis of vascular distensibility and local tonometry.

Aim of this work is to introduce a new system for local carotid pulse wave velocity (PWV) assessment based on the evaluation of the vibrations locally induced by the propagation of the arterial pulse pressure.

Eight young healthy subjects (28.4±2.1 years, 62.5% males, BMI 21.6±2.14 kg/m²) have been recruited.

Two percutaneous accelerometers were placed on the neck of each subject few centimetres apart along a straight segment of the common carotid artery. The accelerometric signals were acquired and processed beat-to-beat in order to obtain the temporal value (i.e. pulse transit time, PTT) at which the maximal degree of similarity between them was obtained. In particular, ad-hoc fiducial points have been chosen, allowing an optimal signal alignment.

The mean PWV, calculated from the distance (mean 3.81±0.58 cm) between the position of the two accelerometers and the PTT, was 3.16±1.09 m/s, a reasonable value for elastic artery of young people.

In conclusion, a new cheap, easy-to-use and non-invasive system for local carotid pulse wave velocity assessment based on the analysis of local vibrations is proposed. For its characteristics it might be considered as a valid alternative to available approaches.