Comment on 'New photoplethysmogram indicators for improving cuffless and continuous blood pressure estimation...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Physiological Monitoring
• Cardiovascular Research

Background:

• Continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring is crucial for cardiovascular health management.
• Cuff-based BP measurement methods are invasive and inconvenient for long-term monitoring.
• Photoplethysmogram (PPG) and pulse arrival time (PAT) offer potential for cuffless BP assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate novel photoplethysmogram (PPG) indicators for cuffless continuous blood pressure (BP) measurement.
• To discuss the physiological basis and validation of PPG- and PAT-based BP monitoring.
• To assess the clinical utility of PPG/PAT-based BP measurement techniques.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of physiological data including PPG signals and pulse arrival time (PAT).
• Discussion of the underlying physiology influencing PPG features and PAT.
• Review of validation methodologies for cuffless BP measurement devices.

Main Results:

• Photoplethysmogram (PPG) features and pulse arrival time (PAT) can change independently of blood pressure (BP).
• Validation studies require diverse physiological challenges that affect BP and are independent of calibration.
• Existing research extensively explores PPG/PAT for cuffless BP measurement.

Conclusions:

• The inherent physiological confounding in PPG/PAT-based BP measurement poses significant challenges.
• It is unlikely that current PPG/PAT-based methods will achieve widespread clinical value for BP monitoring.
• Further research is needed to address confounding factors for reliable cuffless BP measurement.