An innovative oscillometric blood pressure measurement: Getting rid of the traditional envelope

Oscillometric blood pressure devices are popular and are considered part of the family´s medical chest at home. The popularity of these devices for private use is not shared by physicians mainly due to the fact that the blood pressures are computed instead of measured. The classical way to compute the systolic and diastolic blood pressure is based on the envelope of the oscillometric waveform. The algorithm to compute the blood pressures from the waveform is firm dependent, often patented and lacks scientific foundation. In this paper, we propose a totally new approach. Instead of the envelope of the oscillometric waveform, we use a statistical test to pin-point the time instances where the systolic and diastolic blood pressures are measured in the cuff. This technique has the advantage of being mathematically well-posed instead of the ill-posed problem of envelope fitting. Hence, in order to calibrate the oscillometric blood pressure monitor it is sufficient to make the statistical test unbiased.