Innovative Test for Vascular Health

A new non-invasive cardiovascular test technology monitors vascular reactivity by measuring changes in fingertip temperature in response to an arm-cuff occlusion.

The Vendys device utilizes a simple blood pressure cuff and fingertip probes; with the aid of an automated cuff occlusion technology, a significant drop in fingertip temperature is induced, followed by temperature rebound after cuff release. The speed and magnitude of temperature recovery is a measure of vascular reactivity; the greater the rebound, the more reactive and healthy is the artery. Clinical studies have shown that individuals with lower fingertip thermal reactivity have increased cardiovascular risk factors and greater coronary plaque build-up than those with higher fingertip thermal reactivity. The Vendys device is a product of Endothelix (Houston, TX, USA), and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Endothelix is striving to bring a comprehensive non-invasive, non-imaging cardiovascular risk assessment solution to doctors' offices that is simple, inexpensive, and operator independent,” said Dr. Morteza Naghavi, founder and president of Endothelix, who developed the device together with researchers at the Texas Heart Institute (Houston, TX, USA), and the University of Texas Health Science Center (Houston, TX, USA).

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), three out of four heart attack victims have hidden atherosclerosis, completely without symptoms, and thus unaware of their risk. According to Endothelix, the Vendys technology could serve as a non-invasive, non-imaging vascular stress test that is simple, inexpensive, and user friendly.


Related Links:
Endothelix
Texas Heart Institute
University of Texas Health Science Center