Patent ID: 6332869
Filing Date: 2001-12-25
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
An apparatus for measuring a superior-and-inferior-limb blood-pressure index of a living subject, comprising:.an inferior-limb blood-pressure measuring device which includes a first inflatable cuff adapted to be wound around an inferior limb of the subject, and which measures an inferior-limb blood pressure of the subject based on a first pulse wave obtained while a first pressing pressure of the first cuff is changed;a superior-limb blood-pressure measuring device which includes a second inflatable cuff adapted to be wound around a superior limb of the subject, and which measures a superior-limb blood pressure of the subject based on a second pulse wave obtained while a second pressing pressure of the second cuff is changed;a cuff-pressure changing device which changes the first and second pressing pressures of the first and second cuffs, such that a time when the first pressing pressure being changed becomes equal to an estimated inferior-limb blood pressure coincides with a time when the second pressing pressure being changed becomes equal to an estimated superior-limb blood pressure; andindex determining means for determining the superior-and-inferior-limb blood-pressure index of the subject, based on the inferior-limb and superior-limb blood pressures measured by the inferior-limb and superior-limb blood-pressure measuring devices while the first and second pressing pressures of the first and second cuffs are changed by the cuff-pressure changing device.