Measurement of Heart-carotid Pulse Wave Velocity (hcPWV) by Laser Doppler Vibrometry (LDV) (InSide-CC)

Integrated Silicon Photonics for Cardiovascular Disease Monitoring InSiDe-CC Clinical Validation of the Diagnostic Device (LDV) for the Measurement of Heart-carotid Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Aortic stiffness is an important imaging biomarker of vascular aging. The ascending aorta is the most elastic segment, and it is excluded by reference non-invasive method carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). We propose to use laser-doppler vibrometry (LDV) to record superficial vibrations generated by cardiac activity and arterial pulses for measuring heart carotid PWV, a surrogate for ascending aorta.

The trial aims to demonstrate the equivalence between heart-carotid PWV made by laser-doppler vibrometry (LDV) with the reference MRI measurement (4D-FLOW MRI).

As secondary objectives, A) we aim to assess the reproducibility of LDV, compared with MRI, B) show that aortic stiffness measured by LDV fulfils international recommendations, C) to study the association between PWV and age or other cardiovascular risk factors, D) assess the acceptability of the measurement. For this, we include 100 consecutive patients, 50 women, 50 men, scheduled for clinically indicated thoracic aorta MRI.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Hypertension; Marfan Syndrome; Bicuspid Aortic Valve; Aortic Aneurysm; Aortic Dilatation
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Laser doppler vibrometry (LDV), heart(cordium) carotid pulse wave velocity (ccPWV); Procedure: Blood pressure and heart rate measurement; Device: carotid to femoral PWW measurement; Procedure: Questionnaire completion

Detailed Description

Cardiovascular (CV) diseases and their risk factors are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. They are responsible for more than 17.3 million deaths per year worldwide, accounting for 30% of all causes of death.

The measurement of arterial stiffness is useful to estimate the global CV risk with more precision than the simple point assessment of the classical cardiovascular risk factors.

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) by tonometry is the reference method. However, it excludes by principle the ascending aorta, which is the most distensible and physiologically the most important segment. The InSiDe project aims to measure heart - carotid pulse wave velocity (hcPWV) from the measurement of skin vibrations on the chest and neck by laser doppler vibrometry (LDV), enclosing principally the ascending aorta. This will allow the measurement and validation of a new biomarker that quantifies the stiffness of the ascending aorta. We have demonstrated a very good agreement of the LDV-based cfPWV with the reference technique by tonometry. Our hypothesis, based on physiological reasons, is that heart-carotid PWV will surpass carotid-femoral PWV as a biomarker of large artery stiffness.

The trial aims to demonstrate the equivalence between heart-carotid PWV measured by laser-doppler vibrometry (LDV) with the reference MRI measurement (4D-FLOW MRI). MRI, the gold standard comparator is technically demanding and uncomfortable for the patient, much more expensive and not applicable at the general population level. It is therefore likely that measurement by laser-doppler vibrometry, without contact, more comfortable, acceptable and fast, could replace MRI for mass applications.

For this, we include 100 consecutive patients, 50 women, 50 men, scheduled for clinically indicated thoracic aorta MRI.

ENDPOINTS

Primary endpoint:

• Heart-carotid PWV measured by LDV. To evaluate the agreement between heart-carotid PWV measured by LDV and the same measurement made by MRI (plus 4D-FLOW MRI) of the thorax.

Secondary endpoints:

• Reproducibility of the LDV hcPWV
• Measurement of LDV cfPWV compared with tonometry
• Association between PWV (hc, cf, LDV, MRI), and age, other risk factors
• Assessment of patient acceptability of the measurement

Statistical analysis The statistical technique used will be the Bland - Altman plot and the corresponding bias assessment (mean Bland-Altman bias and limits of agreement, defined as the mean bias ±1.96 - standard deviation, are provided); the coefficient of variation (CV) will also be used.

Description of the device being investigated:

The LDV device, developed by the European consortium CARDIS (Medtronic,SIOS, iMEC, Tyndall Institute) uses two arrays with 6 laser beams. It is a non-invasive exploration, by category 1 laser without any risk for the patient and allows to measure the local arterial stiffness (to evaluate the heart-carotid PWV) and segmental without contact with the skin by using the LDV technique. In practice, this device allows the evaluation of the hcPWV from the measurement of skin vibrations on the chest and neck.

Description of the device used as a comparator:

The reference technique is MRI, used in combination with 4D-FLOW MRI, an innovative technique that allows full 3-dimensional anatomical coverage as well as velocity coding in all 3 directions, opening new and unique possibilities for visualizing and quantifying complex cardiovascular blood flow

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Paris, France, 75015
    • Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients between 18 and 90 years of age in both sexes, who visit the hospital for MRI thoracic MRI as part of routine care.
• Enrolled in a social security plan or beneficiary of such a plan.
• Free, informed, written consent signed by the participant and the investigator (no later than the day of inclusion and prior to any examination required by the research).

and before any examination required by the research and even before the thoracic MRI planned in the care setting).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals under court protection, guardianship or under curator.
• MRI examination done in an emergency context
• Patients with skin lesions (severe eczema, wounds, etc.) in the thorax or neck that do not allow the application of not allowing the application of the skin protection film on the area of interest;
• Allergies to the adhesive film.
• Patients who have a beard, which would make it difficult to apply an adhesive cast.
• Subjects who are not affiliated with social security or an equivalent plan.
• Refusal or linguistic or psychic incapacity to read the information and not object to the research.
• Patients with a serious pathology threatening the vital prognosis in the short and medium term (cancer metastatic cancer, end-stage renal failure, end-stage liver failure, end-stage heart failure) heart failure).
• Patients with a history of acute severe (II, IV) heart failure.
• Patients with progressive cardiovascular pathologies (unstable coronary artery disease, severe valvular disease,stroke, aortic dissection).
• Rhythm disorders: atrial fibrillation, high degree auriculoventricular block.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women
• Person subject to an exclusion period for another research

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Technique comparison; All patients will undergo successively LDV heart to carotid PWV and ascending aorta PWV by MRI, for comparison

Device: Laser doppler vibrometry (LDV), heart(cordium) carotid pulse wave velocity (ccPWV); Patients scheduled for thoracic aorta MRI will have LDV measurement of ccPWV. Both techniques will be compared; Procedure: Blood pressure and heart rate measurement; To all patients: - blood pressure and heart rate will be measured; Device: carotid to femoral PWW measurement; To all patients: - carotid to femoral PWW will be measured by LDV and tonometry for comparison; Procedure: Questionnaire completion; All patients will complete a questionnaire of acceptability

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Heart-carotid pulse wave velocity (hcPWV) measured by LDV compared to MRI	Values of PWV obtained by LDV and by MRI will be compared.	1 hour

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reproducibility of LDV heart-carotid pulse wave velocity (hcPWV)	Measures will be duplicated and the average calculated, in case of discrepancy > 0.5 m/s, a third measurement is made and the median determined. Two series of measurements will be taken at 5minutes of interval.	1 hour
Validity of carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) measured by LDV	Values of cfPWV obtained by LDV will be also compared with values obtained by tonometry.	1 hour
Association of heart-carotid pulse wave velocity (hcPWV) measured by LDV with classical cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and disease	The correlation coefficient and linear regression will be calculated.	1 hour
Acceptability of heart-carotid pulse wave velocity (hcPWV) measured by LDV compared with MRI	A questionnaire of acceptability will be completed by the patient after the measurements.	1 hour

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pierre Boutouyrie, Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Beeckman S, Badhwar S, Li Y, Aasmul S, Madhu N, Khettab H, Mousseaux E, Gencer U, Boutouyrie P, Bruno RM, Segers P. Heart-carotid pulse-wave velocity via laser-Doppler vibrometry as a biomarker for arterial stiffening: a feasibility study. Physiol Meas. 2025 Apr 22;46(4). doi: 10.1088/1361-6579/adcb85.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 13, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 19, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): June 19, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 6, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 25, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 3, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): August 29, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 22, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: hypertension; stiffness; ascending aorta
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Aortic Valve Disease; Bone Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Heart Diseases; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Connective Tissue Diseases; Heart Valve Diseases; Congenital Abnormalities; Cardiovascular Abnormalities; Heart Defects, Congenital; Abnormalities, Multiple; Aortic Diseases; Bone Diseases, Developmental; Aneurysm; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease; Hypertension; Aortic Aneurysm; Marfan Syndrome; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Circulatory and Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; Physical Examination; Vital Signs; Hemodynamics; Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; Blood Pressure; Heart Rate
• Other Study ID Numbers: C21-28; 2021-A02896-35 (Registry Identifier: IDRCB)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No