PULSE WAVE PROPAGATION VELOCITY-MEASURING METHOD, AND PULSE WAVE PROPAGATION VELOCITY-MEASURING DEVICE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method which can increase measurement accuracy of a pulse wave propagation velocity between a heart and an ankle regardless of individual differences such as an age and a height by reducing an influence due to differences in pulse wave propagation characteristics of an artery between the heart and a brachium and an artery between the heart and the ankle and variations in the transient pulse wave propagation velocity.SOLUTION: A pulse wave arrival time Thb from a heart to a brachium and a pulse wave arrival time Tha from the heart to an ankle are respectively specified based on detection values of first and second pulse wave sensors attached to the brachium and the ankle and an electrocardiographic sensor. A linear distance between the heart and the brachium and a linear distance between the heart and the ankle that are measured on a body surface of a subject are respectively converted to an artery length Lhb between the heart and the brachium and an artery length Lha between the heart and the ankle based on a height and an age. Then, a pulse wave propagation velocity Vxa in the artery from the heart to the ankle is obtained by using following formula. Vxa=(Lha-x)/(Tha-Thb), where x=Lhb×Vha/Vhb.