Sphygmomanometer Dynamic Pressurization for Arrhythmia Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sphygmomanometers face challenges in accurately determining arrhythmia, such as atrial fibrillation, due to the need for pulse wave signals with great amplitudes, which are not consistently acquired during blood pressure measurement.
Innovation Solution
A sphygmomanometer that adjusts the pressurization or depressurization speed of the cuff pressure during measurement to optimize the acquisition of pulse wave signals with great amplitudes, by setting a slower speed during predetermined periods based on maximum amplitude or average blood pressure timing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the pressurization speed is maintained at a constant high speed throughout the pressurization process, then the measurement time is shortened and productivity is improved, but the amplitude of the pulse wave signal becomes insufficient and measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pressurization speed is changed from a constant value to a dynamic value that varies during the pressurization process. Specifically, the speed is reduced when the cuff pressure approaches the average blood pressure (where maximum pulse wave amplitude occurs) and increased during other phases, optimizing both signal quality and measurement efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The pressurization speed parameter is modified based on the current cuff pressure relative to the average blood pressure. The control unit adjusts the speed parameter dynamically: reducing it when the pressure is near the optimal measurement range and increasing it otherwise, thereby resolving the contradiction between speed and signal amplitude
2Measurement precision
If the pressurization speed is reduced to acquire pulse wave signals with great amplitude, then measurement precision is improved, but the measurement time increases and productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than maintaining a uniformly slow pressurization speed, the system dynamically adjusts the speed to be slow only during the critical phase when the cuff pressure is near the average blood pressure (where signal amplitude is maximized), and faster during other phases, thus improving signal quality without excessive time penalty
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit preliminarily determines the average blood pressure from past measurement data or real-time detection, and uses this information to proactively adjust the pressurization speed schedule, ensuring that the slow-speed phase is positioned optimally to capture high-amplitude signals
Data Source
AI summary
A sphygmomanometer includes a blood pressure measurement unit configured to measure a user's blood pressure based on a pulse wave signal in a pressurization process of pressurizing a cuff pressure indicating an inner pressure of a cuff worn on a part of the user to be measured. The blood pressure measurement unit sets a pressurization speed in a predetermined period of a pressurization process to be slower than a pressurization speed in a period other than the predetermined period in the pressurization process. The predetermined period is set based on a timing at which the amplitude of the pulse wave signal during the pressurization process is maximum or the timing at which the cuff pressure during the pressurization process is an average blood pressure of the user. The sphygmomanometer further includes a determination unit that determines arrhythmia of the user based on the pulse wave signal in the pressurization process.