Continuous blood pressure monitoring during exercise using pulse wave transit time measurement

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of a research, which is focused on the development of the convenient device for continuous non-invasive monitoring of arterial blood pressure. The blood pressure estimation method is based on a presumption that there is a singular relationship between the pulse wave propagation time in arterial system and blood pressure. The parameter used in this study is pulse wave transit time (PWTT). The measurement of PWTT involves the registration of two time markers, one of which is based on ECG R peak detection and another on the detection of pulse wave in peripheral arteries. The reliability of beat to beat systolic blood pressure calculation during physical exercise was the main focus for the current paper. Sixty-one subjects (healthy and hypertensive) were studied with the bicycle exercise test. As a result of current study it is shown that with the correct personal calibration it is possible to estimate the beat to beat systolic arterial blood pressure during the exercise with comparable accuracy to conventional noninvasive methods.