Cuff-less, non-invasive and continuous blood pressure monitoring using indirect methods

Abstract

Cuff-based methods for measuring blood pressure (BP) have shown some limitations particularly when continuous measurement is required. Moreover, the inflation of the cuff is one of the main disturbing factors as expressed among patients. In this study, a promising approach based on changes in pulse transit time (PTT) for continuous, non-invasive and indirect measurement of BP is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of cuff-based methods. The PTT can be measured using plethysmography (PPG) waveform and the QRS peak of electrocardiogram (ECG) signal and indirectly interpreted as systolic BP. Time synchronization of the two sensors plays an important role in improving the accuracy of measurement. Therefore, it is aimed to employ a tablet-based system for collecting the wireless devices' data at a specific time. It is also our objective to include a triggering mechanism option using ambient sensors in order to start the process of data collection. Bluetooth/IEEE 802.15.4 wireless technologies will be used for real-time sensing and time synchronization. We have found that the proposed indirect measurement of BP can provide continuous information of the BP in a more convenient way from the patients' point of view. Moreover, the result of our indirect measurement of BP indicates that there are some short term fluctuations in the BP.