Reliability and Validity of the Vicorder Device When Measuring Pulse Wave Velocity Within Chronic Stroke Patients

Stroke is a major global health problem and main cause of disability worldwide. Blood pressure control is important for good health in stroke patients. Measuring central blood pressure (the blood pressure which is found in the heart) and measuring the stiffness of your arteries will give practitioners, clinicians and researcher's important information over and above what is usually obtained from peripheral blood pressure in the arm. The most validated and most recognisable equipment for central blood pressure and arterial stiffness is the SphygmoCor XCEL. However, the Doppler Ultrasound is used more often in population-based studies and has been shown to be a precise and accurate measurement. Although these devices are validated, they both require a highly skilled operator and are quite time-consuming. As such, it is important to explore less operator dependent and time consuming devices, such as the Vicorder, as this could be essential for researchers and clinicians.Therefore, this study will investigate whether the Vicorder device is valid and reliable when measuring these outcomes and if so could be implemented in large research studies and potenially be used by clinicians.