Central venous pressure estimation with force-coupled ultrasound of the internal jugular vein.

We estimate central venous pressure (CVP) with force-coupled ultrasound imaging of the internal jugular vein (IJV). We acquire ultrasound images while measuring force applied over the IJV by the ultrasound probe imaging surface. We record collapse force, the force required to completely occlude the vein, in 27 healthy subjects. We find supine collapse force and jugular venous pulsation height (JVP), the clinical noninvasive standard, have a linear correlation coefficient of r = 0.89 and an average absolute difference of 0.23 mmHg when estimating CVP. We perturb our estimate negatively by tilting 16 degrees above supine and observe decreases in collapse force for every subject which are predictable from our CVP estimates. We perturb venous pressure positively to values experienced in decompensated heart failure by having subjects perform the Valsalva maneuver while the IJV is being collapsed and observe an increase in collapse force for every subject. Finally, we derive a CVP waveform with an inverse three-dimensional finite element optimization that uses supine collapse force and segmented force-coupled ultrasound data at approximately constant force.