A Toolset for Blood Pressure Visualization and Measurement in Time, Frequency and Time-Frequency Domains

Abstract

High blood pressure, especially in the case of persistence, can increase the risk of fatal diseases such as heart or brain strokes, serious kidney disease, and many other threads. Therefore, it is not enough to conduct the blood pressure analysis and measurement by self-measuring or other commercial meters, as it is common practice. This work presents a research and educational toolset capable of performing deep analysis of blood pressure in the time, frequency and time-frequency domains in order to improve accuracy of classical approaches. The system is based on noninvasive oscillometric and auscultatory techniques. It is built up from the off-the-shelf hardware and software components supported with strong signal processing techniques and algorithms. As such it can be a low cost, but powerful alternative to complex commercial solutions, which are, by definition, of closed access. The description focuses on system architecture, the principles of measurement and feature extraction as well as the introduction of time-frequency analysis, as a technique that can significantly increase the system precision and performances.