Continuous blood pressure monitoring using ECG and finger photoplethysmogram

Pulse arrival time and the amplitude of the finger photoplethysmogram were used to track blood pressure continuously over 10-minute intervals. The measures were recorded with a holter-oximeter from a sample of 8 young, healthy human subjects in the supine and standing positions. Results indicate that, with individual calibration, systolic and diastolic blood pressure can be estimated with an average error of +/-6 and +/-4 mmHg respectively. Using pulse arrival time in combination with the amplitude of the finger photoplethysmogram gave better results than using any one alone, with PPG amplitude appearing to be more robust.