Assessing vascular endothelial function using frequency and rank order statistics

• Changes should appear when endothelium regulates blood vessel after occlusion.
• DM is an important contributor to atherosclerosis.
• First clinical application of FROS in assessing endothelial function in DM.

Using frequency and rank order statistics (FROS), this study analyzed the fluctuations in arterial waveform amplitudes recorded from an air pressure sensing system before and after reactive hyperemia (RH) induction by temporary blood flow occlusion to evaluate the vascular endothelial function of aged and diabetic subjects. The modified probability-weighted distance (PWD) calculated from the FROS was compared with the dilatation index (DI) to evaluate its validity and sensitivity in the assessment of vascular endothelial function. The results showed that the PWD can provide a quantitative determination of the structural changes in the arterial pressure signals associated with regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure by intact vascular endothelium after the application of occlusion stress. Our study suggests that the use of FROS is a reliable noninvasive approach to the assessment of vascular endothelial degeneration in aging and diabetes.