Cardiovascular-risk peripheral arterial tonometry system
Definition
An electrically-powered assembly of devices designed to assess peripheral artery endothelial dysfunction (poor vasodilatory response) and/or arterial stiffness through the noninvasive measurement of arterial pulsatile volume changes in the fingertip during a reactive hyperemia test (occlusion of blood flow followed by abrupt release). It typically includes a dedicated bio-sensor applied to a finger or arm and a computer/software-controlled device used to process, store, display, and help analyse peripheral arterial tone (PAT) data received from the sensor. Endothelial dysfunction is a recognized marker of sub-clinical arteriosclerosis which is used as a predictor of cardiovascular events.