Development of an Ultrasonic Indirect Blood Pressure Sensing Technique for Aerospace Application

摘要

The report summarizes work done toward development and evaluation of an ultrasonic Doppler method for indirect measurement of arterial blood pressure in the aerospace environment. The systems developed were evaluated by observing the onset and disappearance of derived Doppler signals coincident with arterial opening motion, comparing systolic and diastolic pressures thus obtained to those acquired by auscultation and recording Korotkoff sounds, and by arterial catheterization. System tests were made with humans in laboratory, clinical, high airborne noise, high acceleration, and combat environments. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure values acquired from resting subjects in quiet environments with the ultrasonic Doppler system were 5 to 8 percent higher than those acquired by the conventional auscultatory method. Good data were acquired with the ultrasonic Doppler system in high level airborne noise environments where auscultation techniques were not usable. Tests made with patients in shock showed performance of the ultrasonic system to be superior to that of a Korotkoff sound system. The final ultrasonic Doppler blood pressure system consisted of a transducer-cuff assembly and a 2.25-pound electronics package, complete with rechargeable batteries. (Author)