An investigation of the correlation between blood pressure and pulse transit time for the development of rrterial applanation tonometry

• Main Author: Rajendran, Niranchanamala
• Other Authors: Zhou Yu Feng
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68786
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Abstract High blood pressure afflicts more than 1 billion people globally and it has been rated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be one of the most significant cause of premature death. The health and economic benefits derived from the early detection and control of high blood pressure is significant. Therefore blood pressure is routinely taken whenever a patient visits the doctor. Even though blood pressure measurement continues to be an important feature in clinical practice, it is still being inaccurately determined. The traditional method of using the sphygmomanometer and the cuff can result in inexact measurement of blood pressure because physicians do not accurately follow the standardised procedures and sometimes the anxiety faced by patients in the presence of the physician can increase blood pressure. This can lead to normal patients being inaccurately diagnosed to be hypertensive and vice versa. With the advancement in science, blood pressure measurement techniques have increased over the years. Many studies have identified pulse transit time to be a promising surrogate measure to monitor blood pressure continuously and non-invasively. The algorithm relating pulse transit time to blood pressure is an active area of research and the aim of this study is to establish that algorithm. In this study an attempt was made to use Fluid structural Interaction (FSI) analysis to elucidate the relationship between blood pressure and pulse transit time. However, due to computational difficulties, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) were employed instead to determine the algorithm between PTT and BP. It was discovered that revisions had to be made to the boundary conditions of the problem.