arXiv subjects

Sara Vardanega

Publications and source records attributed to Sara Vardanega.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Attractor Image-Based Deep Learning of Arterial Pulse Waves for Age Classification

Arterial pulse waveform morphology evolves with age, reflecting structural and functional changes in the cardiovascular system. Thus, vascular age is a valuable surrogate marker of cardiovascular health, and premature vascular ageing can indicate increased disease risk. Pulse wave analysis could support risk stratification in otherwise asymptomatic adults. We transformed pulse wave time-series data from photoplethysmography (PPG) and arterial tonometry into images, using the Symmetric Projection Attractor Reconstruction (SPAR) method. These SPAR images were used to train a convolutional neural network to classify healthy subjects into two closely spaced age groups (35-40 and 50-55 years). The model demonstrated consistent classification performance across internal and external test sets, achieving F1 scores above 70% for both PPG and tonometry signals. These results suggest that SPAR-derived pulse wave images contain discriminative morphological features even among healthy adults close in age. This proof-of-concept lays the groundwork for future research into the use of SPAR for early risk detection using smart wearables.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

Benchmark Problems and Benchmark Datasets for the evaluation of Machine and Deep Learning methods on Photoplethysmography signals: the D4 report from the QUMPHY project

This report is part of the Qumphy project (22HLT01 Qumphy) that is funded by the European Union and is dedicated to the development of measures to quantify the uncertainties associated with Machine Learning algorithms applied to medical problems, in particular the analysis and processing of Photoplethysmography (PPG) signals. In this report, a list of six medical problems that are related to PPG signals and serve as Benchmark Problems is given. Suitable Benchmark datasets and their usage are described also.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

Machine-learning for photoplethysmography analysis: Benchmarking feature, image, and signal-based approaches

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a widely used non-invasive physiological sensing technique, suitable for various clinical applications. Such clinical applications are increasingly supported by machine learning methods, raising the question of the most appropriate input representation and model choice. Comprehensive comparisons, in particular across different input representations, are scarce. We address this gap in the research landscape by a comprehensive benchmarking study covering three kinds of input representations, interpretable features, image representations and raw waveforms, across prototypical regression and classification use cases: blood pressure and atrial fibrillation prediction. In both cases, the best results are achieved by deep neural networks operating on raw time series as input representations. Within this model class, best results are achieved by modern convolutional neural networks (CNNs). but depending on the task setup, shallow CNNs are often also very competitive. We envision that these results will be insightful for researchers to guide their choice on machine learning tasks for PPG data, even beyond the use cases presented in this work.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2025

The Impact of Aortic Valve Stenosis on Pulse Wave Morphology: An in silico study with 16,038 virtual subjects

Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) presents challenges in asymptomatic detection, resulting in delayed intervention. This study aims to understand how AVS affects pulse wave (PW) morphology. A PW database of 16,038 virtual subjects aged 50 to 75 was created, representing normal physiology and varying AVS degrees. All subjects were simulated using a closed-loop one-dimensional/zero-dimensional blood flow model of the entire cardiovascular system, incorporating a four-chamber heart model capable of simulating different levels of AVS by reducing the orifice area of the aortic valve. Even in cases below clinical significance, distinct PW morphology changes were observed, suggesting potential for early AVS detection using peripheral PWs from non-invasive at-home devices.

physics.med-ph↗