RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Vasoconstriction and vasodilation phenomena reflect the relative changes in the vascular bed. They induce particular modifications in the pulse wave magnitude. Webcams correspond to remote sensors that can be employed to measure the pulse wave in order to compute the pulse frequency. OBJECTIVE: Record and analyze pulse wave signal with a low-cost webcam to extract the amplitude information and assess the vasomotor activity of the participant. METHODS: Photoplethysmographic signals obtained from a webcam are analyzed through a continuous wavelet transform. The performance of the proposed filtering technique was evaluated using approved contact probes on a set of 12 healthy subjects after they perform a short but intense physical exercise. During the rest period, a cutaneous vasodilation is observable. RESULTS: High degrees of correlation between the webcam and a reference sensor were obtained. CONCLUSIONS: Webcams are low-cost and non-contact devices that can be used to reliably estimate both heart rate and peripheral vasomotor activity, notably during physical exertion.