Editing Pulse (section)

== Physiology ==
[[File:Pulse evaluation.JPG|thumb|Pulse evaluation at the radial artery.]]
[[File:Pulse sites-en.svg|thumb|Recommended points to evaluate pulse]]
Claudius [[Galen]] was perhaps the first [[physiologist]] to describe the pulse.<ref>Temkin 165;BBC[a]</ref>  The pulse is an expedient [[Touch|tactile]] method of determination of [[Systole (medicine)|systolic]] [[blood pressure]] to a trained observer. [[Diastolic]] blood pressure is non-palpable and unobservable by tactile methods, occurring between heartbeats.

[[Longitudinal wave|Pressure wave]]s generated by the heart in [[Systole (medicine)|systole]] move the arterial walls. Forward movement of [[blood]] occurs when the boundaries are pliable and compliant. These properties form enough to create a palpable pressure wave.

Pulse velocity, pulse deficits and much more physiologic data are readily and simplistically visualized by the use of one or more [[arterial catheter]]s connected to a [[transducer]] and [[oscilloscope]]. This invasive technique has been commonly used in [[intensive care]] since the 1970s.

The pulse may be further indirectly observed under light absorbances of varying wavelengths with assigned and inexpensively reproduced mathematical ratios. Applied capture of variances of light signal from the blood component [[hemoglobin]] under oxygenated vs. deoxygenated conditions allows the technology of [[pulse oximetry]].