Frequently Asked Questions

Clothing restrictions: Remove all metal objects, such as zippers, hooks, buckles, rings and buttons. It is advisable to wear sports clothing that is neither too bulky nor too tight at the waist.

This examination is not recommended for pregnant women. Please notify the technologists of the possibility of an ongoing pregnancy.

The full-body scan takes about 10 minutes. It is important not to move the extremities during the examination. However, you can breathe normally throughout the procedure.

The AngioDefender technology assesses your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases before symptoms appear. The AngioDefender test is done like a blood pressure reading, and measures the health of your blood vessels and arteries, or your endothelial function (please see below for an explanation of what the endothelium does). The test produces an AngioDefender Score that represents the relative health of your heart and arteries as well as your risk of cardiovascular disease. These results, along with the advice of a health care professional, can help you to make decisions about making simple changes to your lifestyle or diet, or about medications to protect and improve your long-term heart health.

Similar to a blood pressure test, there are factors that can affect an accurate reading of the AngioDefender system. Follow the checklist below to make sure your test result is as accurate and meaningful as possible:

• Do not consume food or non-alcoholic beverages, other than water, for 8 hours prior to the test.
• Do not engage in strenuous exercise for 12 hours prior to the test.
• Do not consume caffeine for 4 hours prior to the test.
• Do not use tobacco products for 6 hours prior to the test.
• Do not consume any recreational drugs or alcohol for 8 hours prior to the test.
• Try not to do anything that may cause youto feel stressed during the test (rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, etc.).
• Rest and relax for 10 minutes prior to the test.
• Alert your healthcare provider who is administering the test about medications you have been prescribed since your last test.

Note: All guidelines should be followed for optimal results. If you did not follow all guidelines prior to your test, be sure to inform the healthcare provider administering the test. Other important considerations include:

+ Please do not use your mobile device while resting prior and during the test.

+ When taking the test again, make sure it is taken around the same time of day as previous tests. There are minor, but normal daily variations in your endothelial function.

+ Your arm and back should be supported, legs uncrossed, and feet on the floor. Your upper arm should be bare, with any sleeve comfortably rolled up (wearing a short sleeve or sleeveless shirt is best).

+ Your healthcare provider will wrap the blood pressure cuff snugly around your upper arm.

+ After starting the test, you will hear a buzzing sound and the blood pressure cuff will inflate. You will feel tightness around your arm, followed by a loosening of the cuff.

+ This process will continue for 15 cycles followed by a five-minute cuff-tightening cycle when your arm might feel a tingling sensation or numbness— this is normal. After an additional 25 cycles, the test will be complete. The test will take under 20 minutes and will generate an AngioDefender Score instantly.

The AngioDefender technology takes various readings during the test and converts them to an AngioDefender Score based on Flow Mediated Dilation (%FMD) of the artery in your upper arm. Flow Mediated Dilation (%FMD) measures how quickly the blood flow returns to normal after the pressure in the cuff is released and is an indicator of the overall health of your heart and blood vessels/ arteries. Your healthcare provider interprets this score along with other factors, including age and lifestyle, to paint a total picture of your health risk for stroke, heart attack and other conditions.

A number of risk factors greatly increase your chance of endothelial damage, including physical inactivity, poor diet, tobacco smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, aging, and diabetes.

When the endothelium does not work as it should, blood vessels can become inflamed, which leads to atherosclerosis, or the build-up of plaque inside your blood vessels, commonly known as “hardening of the arteries.” This can lead to problems with the blood vessels supplying the heart and brain with oxygen, which can result in a heart attack or stroke.

Healthy lifestyle and dietary choices, as well as medications, can treat and even reverse damage done to your endothelium. This includes getting more exercise, eating healthier foods, quitting smoking, taking cholesterol lowering drugs, and blood pressure medications, to name a few.

The endothelium is the single-cell-thick interior lining of all the blood vessels in your body. Endothelial cells play key roles in regulating blood flow and the passage of materials and white blood cells into and out of the bloodstream.

Loss of normal endothelial function is a sign of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is considered an important early event in the development of atherosclerosis, which involves the thickening of your arterial walls as a result of the build-up of calcium and fatty materials.

The AngioDefender system measures the health of your endothelium using a process called FlowMediated Dilation (%FMD). It does this by running through a series of inflations and deflations of a blood pressure cuff to analyze the endothelium’s response to increased blood flow – that is, how quickly the blood flow returns to normal after the cuff pressure is released. The healthier your endothelium, the higher your %FMD.

Before the AngioDefender system, measuring damage to your arteries required highly technical, costly, and even intrusive procedures. Now you can get a precise and accurate assessment of your cardiovascular health, including your heart, in just a few minutes. Plus, you can also witness evidence of your improved health by getting retested after making changes to your diet, exercise, or smoking habits, for example.

Problems with %FMD of the brachial artery (the main artery in the upper arm) as measured by the gold standard test, Brachial Artery Ultrasound Imaging (BAUI), is an accurate test of heart disease and potential for future events like heart attacks or strokes. A 2010 study comparing AngioDefender with BAUI shows that the two tests are equivalent.

Your personal data is never stored on Everist Health’s servers. Only your healthcare provider has access to your report and personal data.