Blood Pressure Simulation using an Arterial Pressure-volume Model

Using an arterial pressure-volume (APV) model, we performed an analysis of the conventional blood pressure estimation method using an oscillometric sphygmomanometer with computer simulation. Traditionally, the maximum amplitude algorithm (MAA) has been applied to the oscillation waveforms of the APV model to obtain the mean arterial pressure and the characteristic ratio. The estimation of mean arterial pressure and characteristic ratio was significantly affected by the shape of the blood pressure waveforms and the cutoff frequency of high-pass filter (HPF) circuitry. Experimental errors result from these effects when estimating blood pressure. To determine an algorithm independent of the influence of waveform shapes and parameters of HPF, the volume oscillation of the APV model and the phase shift of the oscillation with fast Fourier transform (FFT) were tested while increasing the cuff pressure from 1 mmHg to 200 mmHg (1 mmHg/s). The phase shift between ranges of volume oscillation was then only observed between the systolic and the diastolic blood pressures. The same results were obtained from simulations performed on two different arterial blood pressure waveforms and one hyperthermia waveform.