AUTHOR=Wang Hongju , Wang Lu , Sun Nannan , Yao Yang , Hao Liling , Xu Lisheng , Greenwald Stephen E. TITLE=Quantitative Comparison of the Performance of Piezoresistive, Piezoelectric, Acceleration, and Optical Pulse Wave Sensors JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.01563 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2019.01563 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=The accurate measurement of the arterial pulse wave is beneficial to clinical health assessment and is important for the effective diagnosis of many types of cardiovascular disease. A variety of sensors have been developed for the non-invasive detection of these waves, but the type of sensor has an impact on the measurement results. Therefore, it is necessary to compare and analyze the signals obtained under a range of conditions using various pulse sensors to aid in making an informed choice of the appropriate type. From the available types we have selected four: a piezoresistive strain gauge sensor (PESG) and a piezoelectric Millar tonometer (the former with the ability to measure contact force), a circular film acceleration sensor and an optical reflection sensor. Pulse wave signals were recorded from the left radial, carotid, femoral and digital arteries of 60 subjects using these four sensors. Their performance was evaluated by analyzing their susceptibilities to external factors (contact force, measuring site and ambient light intensity) and by comparing their stability and reproducibility. Under medium contact force, the peak-to-peak amplitude of the signals was higher than that at high and low force levels and the variability of signal waveform was small. The optical sensor was susceptible to ambient light. Analysis of the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) of the pulse wave parameters, showed that: the tonometer and accelerometer had good stability (ICC>0.80), the PESG and optical sensor had moderate stability (0.460.75) and the PESG and optical sensor had moderate reproducibility (0.420.85) and the three other sensors had moderate reproducibility (0.52