Patent Document ID: 9414755
Application ID: 12454123
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of sensing and analyzing supra-systolic blood pressure waveforms obtained non-invasively from a brachial artery in an arm of a patient, using a blood pressure cuff and cuff pressure transducer, to estimate central artery blood pressures, said method comprising the steps of: (a) applying and inflating a blood pressure cuff on the patient's arm to a supra-systolic pressure; (b) using a non-invasive sensor, sensing a succession supra-systolic cuff pressure waveforms associated with the brachial artery in said patient's arm, each supra-systolic cuff pressure waveform forming a heart-pulse synchronous cuff pressure signal representing at least one cardiac ejection cycle; (c) using a computer, analyzing the supra-systolic cuff pressure waveforms using a first mathematical model relating the heart-pulse synchronous cuff pressure signal and brachial pressure near the cuff on said patient's arm to produce an estimated brachial pressure signal representing estimated brachial pressure waveforms, wherein the heart-pulse synchronous cuff pressure signal is scaled relative to previously measured systolic and diastolic pressures, such that the amplitude of the estimated brachial pressure signal is a proportion of a difference between the previously measured systolic and diastolic pressures; (d) using a computer, analyzing the estimated brachial pressure waveforms using a second mathematical model relating the estimated brachial pressure signal and a central pressure at the root of the brachial artery to produce estimated central artery blood pressures and estimated central artery blood pressure waveforms, whereby the second mathematical model includes at least one parameter with physical meaning selected from a group consisting of (a) an impedance relationship at the cuff and (b) a parameter relating a phase of a pressure wave at substantially the subclavian root to a phase of a supra-systolic pressure wave at the occluding cuff; and (e) generating a computer output representing estimated central artery blood pressures based on the analysis.