Nonconstrained Blood Pressure Measurement by Photoplethysmography

Blood pressure was predicted from photoplethysmography (PPG). To obtain PPG, backscattered light from a fingertip was measured and its waveform was analyzed. Systolic upstroke time and diastolic time in the pulse waveform were used as parameters to predict blood pressure. The experiment was carried out with five subjects on five different days. The systolic upstroke time had a correlation coefficient of -0.605 with respect to systolic blood pressure and the diastolic time had a correlation coefficients of -0.764 for diastolic pressure. This PPG method does not require an air-cuff installation on the arm and can predict blood pressure continuously. This simple LED/photo detector setup can be a good candidate for nonconstrained monitoring of blood pressure variations.