A-PULSE CASP is a revolutionary product patented by HealthSTATS International Pte Ltd. It is able to measure accurately the Central Aortic Systolic Pressure (CASP), which is the blood pressure at the root of the aorta. It is the only device which can be used in common clinical setting. CASP has been shown in many recent studies as an important determinant for strokes and CVS events. It has been validated via invasive study and achieved an accuracy (co-relation) R= 0.9917 independently. A-PULSE CASP is FDA and CE MDD registration approved. It is also being used in large drug trials by Pharmaceutical companies.

What is arterial pulse waveform?

When the left ventricle ejects blood into the aorta in systole, the perturbation generates a wave that initially travels through the arteries from the heart towards the arterial tree.

Pulse waveform has 2 components. 1) Forward travelling wave when the left ventricle contracts and 2) Reflected wave returning back from the peripheral.

What is CASP (Central Aortic Systolic Pressure)?

This is the blood pressure at the root of the aorta or the largest artery in the body, as the blood is being pumped out of the heart. This pressure is called Central Aortic Systolic Pressure or CASP. CASP has been shown to be an important factor in the relation to strokes and cardiovascular events, more so than the brachial pressure, or the pressure at the arm commonly.

How to measure CASP?

Invasive method

This is direct measurement and has been considered as the most accurate method. To perform the measurement, a catheter must be inserted into the aortic root from brachial or femoral artery, which is obviously an invasive method and could result in complications. This invasive method of measuring CASP is not available in clinical setting. However, A-PULSE CASP can be used in clinic and the accuracy has been validated against this invasive method, the result is R= 0.9917 (co-relation). (What this means, for those of you who are like me and don't quite get the point, is the CPW is 99.17% as accurate as the cathater method!)

Non-invasive method

HealthSTATS (HS) invented a device named BPro which is able to capture radial pressure waveforms. Furthermore, HS developed a proprietary formula to derive central aortic systolic pressure (CASP) from the calibrated radial pressure waveform.

What is augmentation index?

The difference between the second and first systolic peaks expressed as a percentage of the pulse pressure.

What is the arterial compliance?

The ability of an artery to increase the volume in response to a given increase in blood pressure is called compliance.

What is pulse wave velocity?

PWV is the speed at which the pressure waveform travels (wave propagation) along the aorta and large arteries, during each cardiac cycle.

What is applanation tonometry?

The principle of applanation tonometry is that the force acting on the plunger is proportional to the pressure in the artery when where the artery surface is flattened.