Pulse Transit Time Based Blood Pressure Estimation in LabVIEW Environment using Non-Contact ECG Electrodes and Pulse Sensor

Abstract

Sphygmomanometers are conventionally used for measuring blood pressure, namely systolic and diastolic pressures. While measuring the maximum output pressure of the heart, namely systolic, the blood flow is cut with the pressure exerted by the cuff, which may discomfort the patient. To avoid this discomfort, we propose a contactless and cuffless blood pressure measurement system (CBPS) of estimating the blood pressure using non-contact capacitively coupled ECG electrodes and a commercial pulse sensor together with an analog signal acquisition circuitry and a LabVIEW program which calculates the systolic and diastolic pressures from the pulse transit time (PTT). Moreover, non-contact ECG electrodes do not need conductive gel, and the CBPS provides almost instant BP results. These features of the CBPS enable continuous recording of the blood pressure together with the ECG signals in a holter device utilizing contactless electrodes.