150804 20251017144653.0 doi 10.1016/j.bspc.2025.107641 sideral 142879 ART-2025-142879 eng Armañac-Julián, Pablo Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-5918-1043 Vascular reactivity characterized by PPG-derived pulse wave velocity 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Vascular reactivity is the capacity of the blood vessels to adapt under physiological and environmental stimuli. Heat stress causes changes at vascular level affecting pulse wave velocity (PWV), which can be non-invasively obtained using pulse photoplethysmography (PPG). The study aim is to characterize non-invasive and reliable PPG-derived PWV surrogates that are able to assess vascular reactivity, using data from fifteen healthy male volunteers under heat stress conditions. Pulse arrival time (PAT) is a recognized PWV surrogate measure, but our study explores further by including pulse transit time difference (PTTD) and pulse wave decomposition analysis (PDA). Our results indicate a significant linear decrease in PAT and PDA under heat stress, with an approximate 15% reduction compared to the relax phase, closely correlating with heart rate (HR) alterations. This correlation is likely influenced by factors such as the pre-ejection period or stroke volume changes. In contrast, PTTD demonstrates a distinct pattern: it exhibits significant and rapid changes during the initial exposure to heat stress, with an approximate 30% reduction, yet shows minimal intra-stage variations (around 0 ms/min compared to 2.5 ms/min in PAT). This suggests that PTTD, in measuring acute sympathetic activation responses, effectively minimizes the impact of HR-related phenomena that significantly influence PAT and PDA measurements. Our study highlights PTTD as an underexplored yet promising measure for accurately assessing vasoconstriction and vascular reactivity. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FEDER/T39-23R-BSICoS info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MCIU-AEI-FEDER/PID2021-126734OB-C21 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EUR/MICINN/TED2021-131106B-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Kontaxis, Spyridon (orcid)0000-0002-1297-0691 Lázaro, Jesús Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-8742-0072 Rapalis, Andrius Brazaitis, Marius Marozas, Vaidotas Laguna, Pablo Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3434-9254 Bailón, Raquel Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-1272-0550 Gil, Eduardo Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-7285-0715 5007 520 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Informát.Ingenie.Sistms. Área Ingen.Sistemas y Automát. 5008 800 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ingeniería Electrón.Com. Área Teoría Señal y Comunicac. 105 (2025), 107641 [8 pp.] Biomed. signal proces. control Biomedical Signal Processing and Control 1746-8094 1117171 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/150804/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2805259 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/150804/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:150804 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:37:07 ARTICLE