A METHOD FOR DETERMINING PULSE TRANSMISSION TIME

Analysis of the transit time of a pulse wave is a possibility for the continuous observation of the changes in blood pressure activity. With invasive procedures, the interval between two notable events on pressure pulse waveforms, which is known as the pulse transit time, is often calculated. Using the second heart sound, the pre-ejection period and the left-ventricular ejection time (systolic time interval) are computed in order to be able to exclude the effect of haemodynamic parameters on aortic pressure increase. Since the use of noninvasive procedures excludes computation of the systolic time interval, and a phonocardiography is also often lacking, a method of relatively quickly determining the time interval between the R-wave of the ECG and the peripheral pulse was developed. The computed pulse transmission time is suitable for studying phasic events and their effects on the mean blood pressure.