Online monitoring & classification of blood pressure profiles.

• Main Author: Asoke Kumar Sakthi.
• Other Authors: Lim Sierin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Bioengineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53919
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Chinese pulse wave diagnosis had remained a subjective art in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) for over 2000 years, until a recent 2006 study, which developed classification indices of the waveforms. The waveforms were classified based on wave parameters such as the wave length, relative phase difference, rate parameters and peak ratio. Western medicine has started using pulse wave analysis in the past two decades, though only in the field of circulation and cardiovascular diseases. However, the methods of measuring blood pressure have been established for nearly a century. Combining both the Western techniques of blood pressure measurement and Chinese Pulse diagnosis, many researchers have worked to computerize the wave pattern matching and automate the pulse diagnosis process. In this study, we seek to use direct pressure sensing method to obtain the pulse wave and analyze the frequency components of the wave via a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The frequency signatures and their amplitudes were studied from the resultant power spectrums. These signatures were then analyzed for patterns to aid in the classification of the different types of waves. Before experimental pulse wave acquisition, existing pulse wave patterns were simulated and analyzed. From the results of this experimental study, the effects of this analysis technique are studied and improvements for further research in this field have been suggested.