An algorithm for tonometric absolute blood pressure measurement

The authors introduce a new algorithm to measure absolute blood pressures from a tonometric blood pressure instrument. The instrument, which measures arterial pressures continuously, provides the pressure waveform by a noninvasive method. Since the area in which accurate pressures are obtained is very narrow, an algorithm to detect whether the instrument is correctly placed and to guarantee the correctness of the waveform is required to render it useful in practical use. The algorithm is based on extracting features from pressure patterns which are obtained by increasing the pressure depressing an artery. By using this algorithm, arterial blood pressures very close to those obtained by an auscultatory method can be obtained