Pressure control method for blood pressure measurement and blood pressure monitor using the pressure control method

Abstract

To provide a pressurization control method for blood pressure measurement which is executed in a blood pressure measurement device.SOLUTION: A pressurization control method includes connecting an airbag unit with a pressure pump, a slow exhaust valve unit and a pressure sensor, wherein the slow exhaust valve unit has a nonlinear depressurization rate; controlling the pressure pump with a nonlinear inflation rate to pressurize the airbag unit based on a pressure signal output from the pressure sensor until pulses of the pressure signal are interpreted to obtain a blood pressure measurement result, wherein the pressure pump inflates the airbag unit with an inflation rate increasing nonlinearly upon a temporal sequence, and the slow exhaust valve unit depressurizes the airbag unit with a nonlinear depressurization rate upon the temporal sequence.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a blood pressure monitor and an inflation control method thereof, and more particularly to an inflation control method for blood pressure measurement and a blood pressure monitor using the inflation control method. [Background technology]

[0002] High blood pressure is a common chronic disease among the general public, yet it is often overlooked. Therefore, blood pressure monitors are a common blood pressure measurement device for elderly family members. Traditional blood pressure monitors require linear air supply control (e.g., blood pressure measurement) to control the air supply from the booster pump. The most commonly used method for linear air supply control is the feedback control method. As shown in Figure 1, a traditional blood pressure monitor uses a low-starting-voltage pump for booster control. The pressure is detected by a pressure sensor at regular intervals, and the pump air supply speed is controlled within a certain air supply speed range to eliminate deviations and achieve expected system performance.

[0003] However, in this type of conventional blood pressure monitor, the starting voltage of the air supply pump is very low, and even if the air supply rate is reduced during the air supply process, the voltage is too low, causing noise interference when the pump stops operating and then restarts. Therefore, this type of conventional blood pressure monitor can only use a low-starting voltage pump to supply air to the airbag using a feedback control method, and measures blood pressure results without a low-speed pressure relief valve. The conventional blood pressure monitor controls the low-starting voltage pump via pulse width modulation (PWM) to supply air to the airbag, and continuously monitors the current pressure and pulse wave through a pressure sensor during the pressurized air supply period. When the difference between the measured current pressure and the previous pressure is less than a lower limit, the low-starting voltage pump is controlled to increase the air supply rate. When the difference between the measured current pressure and the previous pressure is greater than an upper limit, the low-starting voltage pump is controlled to decrease the air supply rate. Therefore, during the pressurized air supply period, the conventional blood pressure monitor can obtain the linear pressurizing effect of the airbag as shown in L1 of Figure 2 until it obtains the blood pressure measurement results such as diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, and systolic blood pressure as shown in L2 of Figure 2 based on the current pressure and pulse wave waveform it has obtained.

[0004] When a conventional blood pressure monitor uses a high-starting voltage boost pump to shorten the pressurized air supply time and obtain blood pressure measurement results, the pulse wave measured using a feedback control method is similarly shown in the waveform diagram in Figure 3. In the conventional blood pressure monitor, the pump stops and restarts during the pressurized air supply period, causing the air pressure to drop and then rise again, and the air supply pressurization line L1 shown in the box line in Figure 3 interferes with the pulse wave indicated by the box line L2.

[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides an inflation control method for blood pressure measurement and a sphygmomanometer using the inflation control method, which prevent the problem of noise interference occurring at the moment when the pump stops and is restarted, and which is particularly applicable in industry. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling inflation of blood pressure measurement that employs a nonlinearly increasing inflation rate in combination with a slow pressure relief valve with a nonlinearly decreasing pressure relief to achieve linear inflation control. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for controlling inflation of blood pressure in a blood pressure monitor, the method comprising the steps of: connecting an airbag unit to a pressure pump and a pressure sensor; and controlling the pressure pump with a nonlinear air supply rate to inflate the airbag unit based on a pressure signal output by the pressure sensor and by interpreting the pulse wave of the pressure signal until a blood pressure measurement result is obtained.

[0008] The pressurization control method of the present invention further includes: connecting the airbag unit with a slow pressure relief valve unit, wherein the slow pressure relief valve unit has a non-linear pressure relief speed.

[0009] Wherein, the step of controlling the booster pump with a nonlinear air supply rate in the booster control method of the present invention further includes: controlling the booster pump with a pulse width modulation (PWM), the PWM having a variable duty cycle, and linearly increasing the duty cycle of the PWM based on a time series to supply air to the airbag unit with a nonlinear air supply rate, and the low-speed pressure relief valve unit relieves pressure to the airbag unit with a nonlinear pressure relief rate based on the time series.

[0010] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a blood pressure monitor, which includes an airbag unit, a pressure pump, a pressure sensor, and a processing unit, wherein the airbag unit communicates with the pressure pump and the pressure sensor, and the processing unit controls the pressure pump according to a nonlinear air supply rate, and the processing unit applies pressure to the airbag unit based on the pressure signal output by the pressure sensor and interprets the pulse wave of the pressure signal until a blood pressure measurement result is obtained.

[0011] Wherein, the processing unit controls the pressure pump by pulse width modulation (PWM), the PWM has a variable duty cycle, and according to a time series, the processing unit linearly increases the duty cycle of the PWM. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] Based on the pressure control method for blood pressure measurement and the sphygmomanometer using the pressure control method implemented by the present invention, the present invention is suitable for adopting a pressure pump with a high or low starting voltage. During the pressure supply period, the method and sphygmomanometer of the present invention provide linear pressure supply control without causing noise interference when the pump stops operating or when the pump starts operating again. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a pressure control method according to the background art that employs a pressure pump with a low starting voltage. [Figure 2] 2A to 2C are waveform diagrams of a pressure signal, a pulse wave, and linear pressurized air supply measured by the pressurization control method shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 1 is a waveform diagram of a pressure signal, a pulse wave, and pressurized air supply measured by a background art pressure pump that uses a high starting voltage. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a blood pressure monitor system according to the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for controlling pressurization in blood pressure measurement according to the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of linearly increasing PWM values ​​of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic diagram of a time sequence of the present invention controlling a pump's non-linear air supply rate increase and a slow pressure relief valve unit controlling a non-linear pressure relief rate decrease. FIG. [Figure 8] 3A to 3C are waveform diagrams of a pressure signal, a pulse wave, and nonlinear pressurized air supply measured by Example 1 of the present invention. [Figure 9] 10A and 10B are waveform diagrams of a pressure signal, a pulse wave, and a linear pressurized air supply measured by Example 2 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The following describes in detail the configuration and technical content of the pressure control method for blood pressure measurement and the sphygmomanometer using the pressure control method of the present invention by listing various preferred embodiments and referring to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the listed embodiments, diagrams, or detailed description. [Example]

[0015] First, please refer to the system block diagram of the blood pressure monitor of the present invention shown in Figure 4. In Example 1 of the present invention, the blood pressure monitor 10 mainly includes a processing unit 11, a display unit 12, a key input unit 13, a pressure pump 14, a pressure sensor 15, an airbag unit 16, a high-speed pressure relief valve unit 17, and a power supply unit (not shown). The power supply unit provides the necessary power for each component of the measuring device 10. The airbag unit 16 is an arm cover airbag unit, and the airbag unit 16 communicates with the pressure pump 14, the high-speed pressure relief valve unit 17, and the pressure sensor 15. The display unit 12 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) device. The key input unit 13 is used to provide user input, thereby activating the blood pressure measurement mode of the blood pressure monitor. The processing unit 11 includes a storage unit, which stores a program instruction set, and the processing unit 11 executes the program instruction set to implement the blood pressure measurement pressure control method of the present invention.

[0016] Please refer to the flowchart of the inflation control method for blood pressure measurement of the present invention shown in Figure 5. In Example 1 of the present invention, sphygmomanometer 10 does not have low-speed pressure relief valve unit 18, but instead employs high-starting voltage boost pump 14 to achieve a nonlinear increase in the air supply rate for airbag unit 16 using a feedback control method. Therefore, when high-speed pressure relief valve unit 17 is closed, processing unit 11 obtains the current pressure value via pressure sensor 15, i.e., the pressure value generated by boost pump 14 supplying air to airbag unit 16 at the current air supply rate. When the user operates key input unit 13 to activate the blood pressure measurement mode of the sphygmomanometer, processing unit 11 executes the following steps of the inflation control method for blood pressure measurement of the present invention.

[0017] Step S101: The processing unit 11 activates the pressure sensor 15 to grasp the zero point pressure of the airbag unit 16. Step S102: The processing unit 11 closes the high-speed pressure relief valve unit 17, and controls the pressure pump 14 to supply air to the airbag unit 16 via pulse width modulation (PWM). Step S103: The processing unit 11 linearly increases the PWM value in a time series manner to control the pressure pump 14, so that the air supply speed at which the pressure pump 14 supplies air to the airbag unit 16 increases nonlinearly. See FIG. 6, which is a schematic diagram of the linearly increasing PWM value of the present invention. The PWM value corresponds to the duty cycle of PWM control, and different PWM values ​​correspond to different duty cycles. The processing unit 11 controls the pressure pump 14 with different PWM values ​​to supply air to the airbag unit 16 at different air supply rates. As shown in FIG. 6, the PWM value increases linearly over time according to the time series, increasing the air supply rate of the pressure pump 14 over time and causing faster pressurization. The line M1 shown in FIG. 7 exhibits a nonlinear decrease. Therefore, the processing unit 11 can control the pressure pump 14 to supply air to the airbag unit 16 at a nonlinearly increasing air supply rate.

[0018] While the airbag unit 16 is being pressurized, the processing unit 11 continues to execute step S104. Step S104: The processing unit 11 obtains the current pressure of the airbag unit 16 through the pressure sensor 15, and interprets the waveform of the pulse wave according to the pressure signal output by the pressure sensor 15. The processing unit 11 continues to execute step S105. Step S105: Based on the waveform and amplitude of the pulse wave, the processing unit 11 determines whether or not the blood pressure measurement results such as diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, etc. have been grasped. If the processing unit 11 determines that the blood pressure measurement results have not been obtained, the processing unit 11 continues to execute step S103, and supplies air to the airbag unit 16 at a nonlinearly increasing air supply rate until the processing unit 11 executes step S105 to obtain blood pressure measurement results such as diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, and systolic blood pressure.

[0019] After obtaining the blood pressure measurement result, the processing unit 11 executes step S106. Step S106: The pressure pump 14 is closed and the high-speed pressure relief valve unit 17 is opened, thereby causing the airbag unit 16 to release pressure at high speed, and the blood pressure measurement results such as diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, etc. are displayed on the display unit 12.

[0020] See Figure 8 for waveform diagrams of the pressure signal, pulse wave, and nonlinear pressurized air supply measured by Example 1 of the present invention. In Example 1 of the present invention, sphygmomanometer 10 employs a high-voltage boost pump 14 and a feedback control scheme to achieve a nonlinear increase in the air supply rate for airbag unit 16. As shown by the air supply pressure line L1, sphygmomanometer 10 of the present invention prevents the pump from stalling and restarting during pressurized air supply. It also avoids the pressure drop and subsequent rise, resulting in the air supply pressure line L1 shown in Figure 3, which avoids noise interference with the pulse wave. While Example 1 of the present invention solves the problem of pump stalling and restarting, it may also result in an insufficient sampling rate due to excessive air supply, resulting in inaccurate subsequent data calculations. Therefore, to address the insufficient sampling rate problem of Example 1, the present invention further proposes a sphygmomanometer 10 of Example 2. [Example]

[0021] Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a block diagram of the blood pressure monitor system of the present invention. In a second embodiment of the present invention, the blood pressure monitor 10 further includes a slow pressure relief valve unit 18. The airbag unit 16 communicates with the pressure pump 14, the fast pressure relief valve unit 17, the slow pressure relief valve unit 18, and the pressure sensor 15. The slow pressure relief valve unit 18 has a nonlinear pressure relief speed. Line M2 in FIG. 7 indicates a nonlinear decrease, and the slow pressure relief valve unit 18 relieves pressure from the airbag unit 16 at a nonlinear pressure relief speed over time. When the pressure value of the airbag unit 16 is relatively high, the pressure relief speed of the slow pressure relief valve unit 18 is relatively fast. When the pressure value of the airbag unit 16 is relatively low, the pressure relief speed of the slow pressure relief valve unit 18 is relatively slow.

[0022] In the second embodiment of the present invention, after the user activates the blood pressure measurement mode of the sphygmomanometer through the key input unit 13, the processing unit 11 also executes the steps of the blood pressure measurement inflation control method of the present invention shown in Figure 5, without overlapping as described above. The difference between the first and second embodiments of the present invention is that they have different inflation effects on the airbag unit 16. In the second embodiment of the present invention, the sphygmomanometer 10 uses a high-starting voltage or low-starting voltage inflation pump 14 to achieve a nonlinear increase in inflation rate for the airbag unit 16 through feedback control. During inflation and inflation, the sphygmomanometer 10 combines with a low-speed pressure relief valve unit 18 to release pressure from the airbag unit 16 at a nonlinear relief rate according to the time series. As shown in Figure 9, the waveforms of the pressure signal, pulse wave, and linear inflation measured by the second embodiment of the present invention achieve a linear inflation effect on the airbag unit 16. The blood pressure monitor 10 of the second embodiment of the present invention does not have to restart the pump due to stalling, and the pressure does not drop and then rise again, which not only avoids noise interference with the pulse wave, but also avoids the problem of insufficient sampling rate and inaccurate subsequent data calculation due to the effect of linear pressure application.

[0023] The present invention has been described above by way of example only with reference to the best mode for carrying out the invention, and various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, but all such modifications should be within the spirit and scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 10. Sphygmomanometer 11 Processing Unit 12 Display unit 13 Key input unit 14 Pressure pump 15 Pressure Sensor 16 Airbag unit 17 High-speed pressure relief valve unit 18 Low-speed pressure relief valve unit S100 Pressure Control Method S101~S106 steps

Claims

1. 1. A method for controlling pressure increase in blood pressure measurement, the method being carried out in a sphygmomanometer, the method comprising: communicating the airbag unit with a pressure pump, a pressure relief valve unit, and a pressure sensor, wherein the pressure relief valve unit has a non-linear pressure relief rate; During pressurization of the airbag unit, the pressure pump controls the supply of air to the airbag unit at a nonlinear air supply rate based on a time series, and simultaneously the pressure relief valve unit releases pressure to the airbag unit at a nonlinear pressure relief rate based on the time series, the nonlinear air supply rate corresponding to the nonlinear pressure relief rate, so that the airbag unit reaches a linear air supply rate; and pressurizing the airbag unit based on the pressure signal output by the pressure sensor and by interpreting the pulse wave of the pressure signal until a blood pressure measurement result is obtained. A pressure control method characterized by the above.

2. A pressurization control method, in which the step of controlling the pressurization pump with a nonlinear air supply rate further comprises: controlling the booster pump by pulse width modulation (PWM), the PWM having a variable duty cycle; 2. The method for controlling pressurization in blood pressure measurement according to claim 1 .

3. A pressurization control method, in which the step of controlling the pressurization pump with a nonlinear air supply rate further comprises: linearly increasing the duty cycle of the PWM through the time series; 3. The method for controlling pressurization in blood pressure measurement according to claim 2.

4. A pressurization control method, in which the step of controlling the pressurization pump with a nonlinear air supply rate further comprises: controlling the booster pump by pulse width modulation (PWM), the PWM having a duty cycle, and linearly increasing the duty cycle of the PWM through the time sequence; The pressure control method according to claim 1,

5. The pressurization control method further comprises: communicating the airbag unit with another pressure relief valve unit, and releasing the pressure of the airbag unit by opening the other pressure relief valve unit after obtaining the blood pressure measurement result; The pressure control method according to claim 1,

6. A blood pressure monitor that implements the pressurization control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A blood pressure monitor, further comprising: a processing unit for controlling the pressure pump to apply pressure to the air bag unit using a non-linear air supply rate; 7. The blood pressure monitor according to claim 6,

8. A blood pressure monitor, comprising: the processing unit interprets a pulse wave of the pressure signal based on the pressure signal output by the pressure sensor to obtain the blood pressure measurement result, and displays the blood pressure measurement result on a display unit; 8. The blood pressure monitor according to claim 7,

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