Advanced indirect method for measuring blood pressure

Abstract

Presently existing blood pressure meters require trained operator otherwise do not assure accurate measurement. An easy-to-use and accurate device would help the early detection of hypertonia as well as self-monitoring at home. This latter would mean an effective aid for the general practitioner to monitor the patient; providing a feedback for treatment and medication. The paper presents the results of the research work having been carried out for an indirect blood pressure measurement procedure in the Biomedical Engineering Laboratory of the Department of Measurement and Information Systems, Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The procedure improves the classical oscillometric algorithm and identifies improperly placed cuff. It was incorporated into eight home health monitoring devices that were used for three months by patients with cardiovascular diseases. More than 1000 recordings of patients and more than 500 of healthy control subjects have been analyzed. The presented algorithm has been va lidated by means of a non-invasive blood pressure meter tester. The bulk of the 100 tester records we have made simulates some kind of artifact or cardiovascular disease.