The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 29, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 29, 1999
Gail D. Baura, San Diego, CA (US);
VitalWave Corporation, San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of a subject during tonometric conditions. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises one or more pressure and ultrasound transducers placed over the radial artery of a human subject's wrist, the latter transmitting and receiving acoustic energy so as to permit the measurement of blood velocity during periods of variable compression of the artery. During compression, the ultrasound velocity waveforms are recorded and processed using time-frequency analysis. The time at which the mean time-frequency distribution is maximal corresponds to the time at which the transmural pressure equals zero, and the mean pressure read by the transducer equals the mean pressure within the artery. In another aspect of the invention, the ultrasound transducer is used to position the transducer over the artery such that the accuracy of the measurement is maximized. In yet another aspect of the invention, a wrist brace useful for measuring blood pressure using the aforementioned apparatus is disclosed.