Abstract: Endothelial dysfunction is an early manifestation of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and conventional flow-mediated dilation (FMD) assessment primarily relies on arterial diameter changes during reactive hyperemia (RH). This thesis proposes methods and instrumentation for Endothelial Reactivity Assessment (ERA) through synchronized pressure–diameter (P–D) analysis and localized arterial functional stiffness characterization.

A multimodal ERA system integrating A-mode ultrasound and continuous local pressure sensing enabled synchronized beat-to-beat P–D measurements. Validation in healthy young (N = 65) and middle-aged (N = 25) participants demonstrated arterial diameter measurement errors below 0.15 mm, local pressure measurement errors below 5 mmHg, and strong agreement with reference methods (R² > 0.83, p < 0.05). The proposed alternative dual-piezoelectric sensing methodology enabled repeatable in-vivo estimation of localized arterial stiffness (N = 40; ICC > 0.70). Also, the developed electrical equivalent model characterized arterial structural and functional properties, showing strong agreement with vascular functional indices in in-silico (N = 420) and in-vivo (N = 25) studies (R² > 0.78, p < 0.05).

The proposed ERA framework extends conventional FMD by integrating multimodal sensing, vascular modelling, and localized arterial stiffness assessment, providing a comprehensive non-invasive approach for endothelial function evaluation with potential for early cardiovascular risk assessment and future clinical translation

Event Details
Title: Methods and Instrumentation for Characterizing Local Arterial Properties for Endothelial Reactivity Assessment (PhD Viva Voce)
Date: July 10, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Venue: Google Meet (https://meet.google.com/csp-sicp-eah)
Speaker: Ms. Nimmi Sudarsan (EE20D055)
Guide: Dr. Jayaraj Joseph
Type: PHD seminar

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