Patent ID: 6458085
Filing Date: 2002-10-01
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A method for measuring blood pressure, comprising:(a) applying a blood pressure cuff about a subject's limb containing an artery; (b) inflating the cuff to a cuff pressure above a predicted mean arterial pressure of the artery; (c) reducing the cuff pressure to permit an increasing flow of blood through the progressively less occluded artery; (d) monitoring arterial counterpressure pulses and oscillations during step (c); (e) converting the counterpressure oscillations to electrical signals; (f) processing the signals into a sequence of peak amplitudes having an envelope, the envelope defining a curve containing a maximum value; (g) determining a diastolic pressure and a mean arterial pressure based upon the curve; and (h) determining a systolic pressure based upon the diastolic pressure, the mean arterial pressure and the counterpressure pulses.