Non-contact hemodynamic imaging reveals the jugular venous pulse waveform

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel non-contact imaging system that visualizes the jugular venous pulse waveform, enabling non-invasive cardiac health assessment by capturing spatial flow profiles and inflection points in the JVP.

Contribution

The study demonstrates for the first time that a light-based photoplethysmographic imaging system can non-invasively observe the JVP and its spatial profile, providing new clinical insights.

Findings

Successful non-contact observation of JVP waveform

First visualization of JVP spatial flow profile

Detection of inflection points indicating cardiac abnormalities

Abstract

Cardiovascular monitoring is important to prevent diseases from progressing. The jugular venous pulse (JVP) waveform offers important clinical information about cardiac health, but is not routinely examined due to its invasive catheterisation procedure. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the JVP can be consistently observed in a non-contact manner using a novel light-based photoplethysmographic imaging system, coded hemodynamic imaging (CHI). While traditional monitoring methods measure the JVP at a single location, CHI's wide-field imaging capabilities were able to observe the jugular venous pulse's spatial flow profile for the first time. The important inflection points in the JVP were observed, meaning that cardiac abnormalities can be assessed through JVP distortions. CHI provides a new way to assess cardiac health through non-contact light-based JVP monitoring, and can be used in non-surgical environments for cardiac assessment.