Design and Validation of an Arterial Pulse Wave Analysis Device

Abstract

Arterial pulse wave analysis studies the wave shape of the blood pressure pulse. The pulse wave provides more information than the extreme systolic and dia- stolic pressures, measured with a cuff sphygmomanometer. The aim of the research is to investigate the design issues in a pulse wave analysis system, and to compare these to a commercially available system. The system was compared and validated by measuring the pulse wave at the radial artery (wrist) using the non-invasive technique of arterial tonometry. The design conformed to the IEC-601 safety standard to ensure patient safety. The data was compared against the data from the commercial system and analysis was performed in the time and frequency domain. The performance of the design suggests that, in some respects, the design was comparable to the commer- cial system, however, a number of performance characteristics fell short of the commercial system. Suggestions have been made to address these problems in further research.