A new blood pressure and heart rate signal analysis technique to assess Orthostatic Hypotension and its subtypes

Orthostatic Hypotension is a sudden drop in blood pressure upon assumption of upright posture. This drop in blood pressure is often results in symptoms such as dizziness, light-headedness, blurred vision, and syncope. Since 1986, tilt table testing has become widely used in the diagnosis of Orthostatic Hypotension. In this study, new algorithms for artifact removal and data extraction in Finometer data were developed. Algorithms were also developed to assess the rates of change of haemodynamic variables in response to head up tilt testing. These algorithms were applied to the Finometer measurements of 20 patients, who underwent tilt table testing in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick. The techniques developed were shown to effectively reduce artifact noise without loss of clinically relevant data. The data extraction algorithms were shown to accurately record changes in haemodynamic variables. It was also demonstrated that rate of change of blood pressure during head-up tilt table testing could have prognostic significance for orthostatic hypotension.