Laser speckle contrast analysis for pulse waveform extraction

The present paper shows a method for pulse waveform extraction using laser speckle contrast analysis. An experimental apparatus was assembled, using a coherent light source and a digital video camera to record time varying speckle patterns emitted from the radial artery. The speckle data were analysed by computing the speckle pattern contrast on a sequence of video frames. The speckle pulse wave signal was then compared with a photoplethysmographic signal both time and frequency domain. A total of thirty data-sets were acquired from 10 individuals. Subjects heart rate was identified with a root mean square error of 1.3 beats per minute. Signals similarity was evaluated using spectral coherence with an overall mean coherence of 0.63. Speckle contrast analysis is a newly commercialized technique to monitor microvascular blood flow. However, these results demonstrate the ability of the same technique to extract pulse waveform information. The inclusion of this feature in the current speckle devices is only associated with a slightly change in the signal processing techniques and video acquisition parameters but can be very useful in clinical context.