Retinal vessels are directly accessible to clinical observation. This has numerous potential interests for medical investigations. Using the Retinal Vessel Analyzer, a dedicated eye fundus camera enabling dynamic, video-rate recording of micrometric changes of the diameter of retinal vessels, we developed a semi-automated computer tool that extracts the heart beat rate and pulse amplitude values from the records. The extracted data enabled us to show that there is a decreasing relationship between heart beat rate and pulse amplitude of arteries and veins. Such an approach will facilitate the modeling of hemodynamic interactions in small vessels.
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