Use of the pulse transit time trend to relate tidal breathing and central respiratory events

Increasing accuracy of pulse transit time measurements by automated elimination of distorted photoplethysmography waves

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a widely available non-invasive optical technique to visualize pressure pulse waves (PWs). Pulse transit time (PTT) is a physiological parameter that is often derived from calculations on ECG and PPG signals and is based on tightly defined characteristics of the PW shape. PPG signals are sensitive to artefacts. Coughing or movement of the subject can affect PW shapes that much that the PWs become unsuitable for further analysis. The aim of this study was to develop an algorithm that automatically and objectively eliminates unsuitable PWs. In order to develop a proper algorithm for eliminating unsuitable PWs, a literature study was conducted. Next, a '7Step PW-Filter' algorithm was developed that applies seven criteria to determine whether a PW matches the characteristics required to allow PTT calculation. To validate whether the '7Step PW-Filter' eliminates only and all unsuitable PWs, its elimination results were compared to the outcome of manual elimination of unsuitable PWs. The '7Step PW-Filter' had a sensitivity of 96.3% and a specificity of 99.3%. The overall accuracy of the '7Step PW-Filter' for detection of unsuitable PWs was 99.3%. Compared to manual elimination, using the '7Step PW-Filter' reduces PW elimination times from hours to minutes and helps to increase the validity, reliability and reproducibility of PTT data.

Inverse-model-based cuffless blood pressure estimation using a single photoplethysmography sensor

This paper proposes an inverse-model-based cuffless method for estimating blood pressure using a single photoplethysmography sensor. The proposed method, which is based on the relationship between blood pressure and the features of pulse waves, employs an inverse estimation and uses the blood pressure as the explanatory variable. Using this method, the blood pressure can be estimated with high accuracy even in situations where the pulse wave features are scattered, as the method uses the dynamic signal-to-noise ratio of the Taguchi method. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we employed it to measure the systolic blood pressure. It could be confirmed that the estimation accuracy of the proposed method is higher than that of similar methods.