Patent ID: 6726632
Filing Date: 2004-04-27
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
An apparatus for evaluating a degree of arteriosclerosis of a living subject, the apparatus comprising:a blood-pressure measuring device which measures a systolic and a diastolic blood pressure of the subject; a pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related-information obtaining device which obtains pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information that is related to a velocity at which a pulse wave propagates through an artery of the subject; a display device; and a control device which controls the display device to display, in a first two-dimensional graph defined by a first axis indicative of blood pressure and a second axis indicative of pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information, at least one symbol indicating two positions, one of which corresponds to the systolic blood pressure measured by the blood-pressure measuring device and the pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information obtained by the pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related-information obtaining device, and the other of which corresponds to the diastolic blood pressure measured by the blood-pressure measuring device and said obtained pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information; wherein the pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related-information obtaining device obtains a piece of pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information from the subject, at a substantially same time as a time when the blood-pressure measuring device measures systolic and diastolic blood pressure values of the subject in each of a plurality of measuring operations, wherein the apparatus further comprises a memory device which accumulatively stores a set of subject information including the systolic and diastolic blood pressure values measured, and the piece of pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information obtained, in said each of the measuring operations, and wherein the control device comprises a time-wise-change displaying device for controlling the display device to display, in a second two-dimensional graph defined by a third axis indicative of blood pressure and a fourth axis indicative of pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-related information, respective symbols at respective positions which respectively correspond to the sets of subject information accumulatively stored by the memory device.