| 摘要 |
<p>Apparatus is disclosed herein for non-invasively monitoring arterial waveforms, such as the waveform produced by blood flow through the brachial artery in a human subject. The invention includes a unique transducer which senses both a pressure wave proportional to blood flow in the artery and an acoustical signal proportional to the turbulence created by blood flow through a partially occluded artery. The transducer may be cuff mounted for attachment to the subject, and the cuff may be automatically inflated in accordance with the invention. The transducer signals are supplied to electrical circuitry including an analog-to-digital converter and a processing device which stores the transducer signals through a data accumulation technique. After the data is accumulated, the information is analyzed in accordance with a predetermined criteria to provide accurate determinations of heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and other cardiovascular characteristics of the subject. The device may also be configured to provide a continuous display of the subject's arterial waveform. Various alternatives and variations are disclosed.</p> |
