Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................ 1
2. Design....................................................................................... 6
2.1 General................................................................................................................ 6
4. Conclusion ............................................................................. 16
References.................................................................................... 18
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1. Introduction
Blood is being carried from our heart to all parts in our body by blood vessels
called arteries. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the wall of the
arteries. Each time our heart beats it pumps out blood to the arteries. Systolic pressure
which is the highest blood pressure occurs when our heart is pumping. Diastolic pressure
Since blood pressure is an indirect measurement of heart beats, the blood pressure
will changes according to time and emotion. For instance, blood pressure will rise when
we are awaken and excited. The unit for blood pressure is in mmHg and the notation will
cause much symptoms but severe case causes headache, sleepiness, confusion and coma.
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1.1 Objective
to suit into the existing MEMSWEAR platform. The blood pressure measurement has to
be semi-continuous which will be elaborated in details in later stage of the report. The
to be monitored.
The size for the sensor system must be small and easy to incorporate into the
MEMSWEAR suit. Besides that, the energy consumption of the sensor should not be
First the framework will discuss more on methods to measure human blood
pressure and listing out of disadvantages and problems. Next, there will be more
explanations on the solutions to these problems and the design of the sensor. The
following topic of discussion will be on the design elements of the sensor and how these
elements will benefit the wearer. Subsequently, the suggested experimental testing will
be explained. The later part of the report will be on problems faced and future concerns.
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1.2 Blood Pressure Measurement
blood pressure in the arteries, especially one consisting of a pressure gauge and a rubber
cuff that wraps around the upper arm and inflates to constrict the arteries.
To take a blood pressure reading, you need to be relaxed and comfortably seated,
with your arm well supported. Alternatively, you can lie on an examination couch.
1. A cuff that inflates is wrapped around your upper arm and kept in place with
2. Another tube leads from the cuff to a reservoir of mercury at the bottom of a
vertical glass column. Whatever pressure is in the cuff is shown on the mercury
column. The mercury is held within a sealed system – only air travels in the
3. Air is then blown into the cuff and increasing pressure and tightening is felt on the
upper arm.
4. The doctor puts a stethoscope to your arm and listens to the pulse while the air is
5. The systolic pressure is measured when the doctor first hears the pulse.
6. This sound will slowly become more distant and finally disappear.
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The diastolic pressure is measured from the moment the doctor is unable to hear
the sound of the pulse. The blood pressure is measured in terms of millimetres of mercury
(mmHg).
Figure 1: Sphygmomanometer
The method above needs a trained personnel and significant size equipment which
is not a good option for MEMSWEAR. Besides it is sometimes hurt if the cuff is applied
on our arm. Hence, we need good solutions for these so-called traditional ways.
The sensor has to be smaller in size, can operate without any personnel and does
not hurt too much. Energy consumption of the sensor must be as low as possible.
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1.3 Photoplethysmograph
measure pulsations associated in changes of blood volume. The method was first
Shirer (1962). This method is based on idea that if an externally applied pressure in the
cuff is equal to the arterial pressure instantaneously, the arterial walls will be unloaded
(zero transmural pressure) and the arteries will not change in size. In this condition, the
blood volume will not change. This method was attempt to realise for the first time by
Penaz (1973) using photoelectric technique of detecting blood flow, equipped with a
transparent inflatable cuff controlled by a servocontrol system in the human finger [1].
detector. The intensity of light from infrared emitter which reaches the photodiode
volume changes.
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2. Design
2.1 General
The photoplethysmographic sensor will be placed below the tip of the finger and
pressure will be applied on the proximal phalanx. Since the cuff is wrapped on the
proximal phalanx of the finger rather than arm, it makes less discomfort for prolonged
used. The blood volume changes on the finger will be notified by the sensor and
There is a timer attached on the device to time the cuff pressure applied time and
The idea of the blood pressure sensor is much like the Photoplethysmograph
Stephen A. Mascaro and H. Harry Asada [2]. The finger force is measuring colouration
glove as a more compact device. Below is the picture of the fingernail sensor.
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Figure 4: Fingernail sensor handglove
The proposed blood pressure sensor will be incorporated into a hand glove as well.
The hand glove must be easily attachable and detachable by the wearer to fulfill wearable
requirement.
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2.2 Design Elements
Size/Profile
In order to fulfill the requirement reduce discomfort of the wearer, the sensor
must be thin and unobtrusive. If possible, the sensor can be made in decorative manner
such that it is not obvious to the others. Besides that, the sensor should not be obtrusive to
Sensor Position
Separation between noise and signal is the most crucial part of the sensor position.
It is proposed to be attached rigidly to the fingernail. This will reduce the background
noise of sensor. The interface between the finger and the sensor must be optically
Due to the sensitivity of the sensor to light, the shielding of the sensor is difficult.
Photodiodes has to be optically shielded from the ambient light to reduce noise caused by
the ambient light. Photodiode detector has to be shielded from the side to prevent
unwanted light from the infrared emitter. This will avoids unwanted voltage from
forming.
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Signal Processing and Transmission
signal from the detector. This is to prevent loss of signal due to long transmission. The
amplified signal will be processed and transmitted to the system by using Bluetooth
transmitter. The figures below show the amplifier circuit of the PPG sensor and the
Microcontroller Monitoring
on Sensor System
Bluetooth Bluetooth
Transmitter Receiver
Sensing Device
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2.3 Method of Measurement
There are two methods suggested by Ante Fiantii and Miroslav Gaban to measure
the diastolic and systolic blood pressure on the finger [3]. One of them is based on
sensor. The other method is based on pulse amplitude differences which occur during the
cuff deflation.
The systolic pressure can be easily determined with the sensor on the tip of the
finger. The proximal cuff deflates and when the systolic pressure in the proximal cuff is
reached, the first bolus of blood succeeds to reach sensor, what indicate systolic pressure.
In the previous work of Fiantii and Miroslav Gaban mentions about the method of
measuring the time delay of the transition between proximal cuff and sensor until it
becomes constant [3]. Refer to the figure below, the time delay can be measured in ∆t.
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However, if we notice different time pulse delay has different peak value. In
previous work by A.Santic, M.R. Neuman, the less changed peak amplitude is taken.
Refer to the figure below; the peak amplitude corresponding to the first minimum of time
The amplitude differences (between cuff pressure and sensor) obtained after the
systolic pressure is the highest systolic pressure. The amplitude differences obtained after
the diastolic pressure is the lowest pressure. Refer to the figure below to see the graph of
pulse signal.
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Figure 10: Pulse amplitude differences a function of pressure in proximal cuff
The differences of amplitude are plotted out in a graph. The diastolic pressure is 45% of
the highest and lowest amplitude differences which the equation below.
pressure is determined. Obtaining one data sampling requires about one second, hence,
time to take an exact diastolic pressure is 20 seconds. This delay of measurement will be
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3. Design Improvement
The traditional blood pressure measurement used pressure cuff which could cause
painful or discomfort to the user. Pulse Transit Time (PTT) is the time interval for the
arterial pulse pressure wave to travel from the aortic valve to a peripheral site. PTT is
studied and used to estimate blood pressure for cuffless design. Peripheral pulses are
recorded at the fingertip using photoplethysmography and then compare the result with
Electrocardiograms (ECG). In this case, the pressure cuff can be excluded from the
design. The advantages from not having a pressure cuff are the device is easily
The implementation of PPT needs to perform ECG scanning. There are three
ways to implement cuffless blood pressure measurement. The first way is to use PPT
which requires ECG. The second way is to implement Continuous Wavelet Transform
(CWT) [4]. The third way is combining a PPG-based signal with a hydrostatic pressure
With cuffless design, the monitoring can be done more often than usual pressure
cuff design on the finger. However, cuffless design is hard to determine the diastolic
pressure. Therefore more testing is required to verify the result of the blood pressure from
cuffless design.
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3.2 Device Positioning
Since the design has been improved to cuffless design, the position of the device
can be changed to other parts of the body. The requirement to position the device is
limited blood pressure change which means limited movement. For instance when the
The sensor is encapsulated in a casing which very similar with the hearing assist
tool shown in the figure below. The skin behind the ear is very thin hence suitable for the
PPG sensor to work. The transmission device will be at the same casing with the sensor
to avoid undesired noise during the transmission. The benefit from this position is the
possible integration with the other sensors such as temperature and SpO2 sensor. With the
integration with other sensors, all signals from the sensors can be sent at one time to
When the PPG sensor is attached onto the ear, the first calibration of the blood
pressure is taken. In this calibration process, the systolic and diastolic pressure is taken. If
the pressure is above the normal person’s rate, the system will show a warning message.
After it is being calibrated, any abnormal systolic and diastolic pressure will caused the
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3.3 Energy Consumption
rechargeable ability. The device will be powered by the similar battery since it is proven
workable. The idea of having semi-continuous monitoring will still applicable to reduce
Active Idle
Bluetooth Activated Disabled
Low. Stand-by time up to 200
Energy Consumption High. Battery life to 4 hours
hours.
respond switch. The monitoring of blood pressure will be continuous by using PPG
sensor. However when abnormal blood pressure occurs the microcontroller will
the table above; the energy consumption will be down to a low level when the Bluetooth
is idle.
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4. Conclusion
4.1 Discussion
The method uses infrared laser to sense and respond to the system. The advantage of
infrared sensor is fast response and ambient pressure independent. However the sensor
needs accurate and fixed positioning for consistent result. If the sensor is moved
accidentally the measured blood pressure may be inaccurate. The sensor is also
The systolic pressure can be easily obtained by measuring the first bolus that
reaches the sensor after the proximal cuff deflated. Getting the diastolic pressure is more
complicated, two methods are suggested namely time pulse delay method and amplitude
differences method. The weakness of these methods is the method requires sampling of
10 to 20 wavelengths from the sensor before the diastolic pressure can be obtained. In
this case, the warning message of any critical situation will be delayed.
The original design of sensor can be improved into cuffless design. There are
three different approaches to design a cuffless blood pressure sensor. They are Pulse
Transit Time (PTT), Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) and hydrostatic pressure
reference. By implementing the cuffless design, it is possible to place the sensor on the
human ear.
order to do that, a microcontroller is used as abnormal detector to send only the abnormal
signal to the monitoring system. This will decrease the sensor energy consumption.
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4.2 Recommendation / Future Concern
The future direction of the design will be emphasized on reducing the energy
consumption and improving battery life. A long battery life is very essential for remote
monitoring system. The failure of the system due to low battery life could be fatal to the
Few sensors that are similar to each other can be integrated together in one system.
These sensors are blood pressure, SpO2 and temperature sensors. Integration of sensors
will also reduce energy consumption since all the signals are sent at one time. On the
other hand, integration of sensors requires more complicated circuitry that may leads to
waveforms from the sensor. Therefore the warning message maybe delayed and the result
could be fatal to the user. In the future research on this area, better ways to determine the
diastolic pressure are needed for faster response time of the system.
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References
the Human Blood Pressure”, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic.
[2] Stephen A. Mascaro, Student Member, IEEE, and H. Harry Asada, Member,
Haptic Obstruction”, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 17, No. 5,
Oct 2001.
[3] Ante Fiantii, Senior Member, IEEE, Miroslav Gaban, “Two Methods for
1995.
Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, Cancun, Mexico, September 17-21,
2003.
MA, USA, Proceedings of the 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS,
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