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Blood-pressure monitoring apparatus

  • US 6,186,954 B1
  • Filed: 09/16/1999
  • Issued: 02/13/2001
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1998
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A blood-pressure monitoring apparatus comprising:

  • a measuring device which includes an inflatable cuff adapted to apply a pressing pressure to a body portion of a living subject and which measures at least one blood-pressure value of the living subject by changing the pressing pressure of the inflatable cuff;

    a pulse-wave-propagation-relating-information obtaining device which iteratively obtains a piece of pulse-wave-propagation-relating information relating to propagation of a pulse wave through an arterial vessel of the living subject;

    estimating means for iteratively estimating a blood-pressure value, EBP, of the living subject, based on each piece of pulse-wave-propagation-relating information, PWPI, obtained by the pulse-wave-propagation-relating-information obtaining device, according to a linear relationship between pulse-wave-propagation-relating information and blood pressure, the linear relationship being defined by a following linear expression, EBP=α

    (PWPI)+β

    , where α

    is a slope and β

    is an intercept;

    index-value calculating means for calculating, based on the blood-pressure value of the living subject measured by the measuring device, an index value indicative of a hardness of a blood vessel of the living subject;

    slope determining means for determining, based on the calculated index value, the slope α

    of the linear expression; and

    intercept determining means for determining the intercept β

    of the linear expression, based on the blood-pressure value measured by the measuring device, the piece of pulse-wave-propagation-relating information obtained by the pulse-wave-propagation-relating-information obtaining device when the blood-pressure value is measured by the measuring device, and the slope α

    determined by the slope determining means.

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