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The effects of pre-ejection period on post-exercise systolic blood pressure estimation using the pulse arrival time technique

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Abstract

Pulse arrival time (PAT) is comprised of the vascular transit time (TT) through the arterial system and the pre-ejection period (PEP) in the heart. It has been used to predict arterial blood pressure (BP) without using a cuff. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of including the PEP on the accuracy of cuffless systolic BP (SBP) estimation using the PAT technique in post-exercise recovery. Experiments were conducted on 22 normotensive participants. PAT, TT and PEP were determined from simultaneous measurements of the electrocardiogram, photoplethysmogram and impedance cardiogram. Moderate exercise induced significant (p < 0.05) increases in SBP and heart rate and significant (p < 0.05) decreases in PEP and PAT. Diastolic blood pressure and TT only varied insignificantly (p > 0.05). SBP was moderately correlated with PEP (r = −0.61) and PAT (r = −0.81). PAT and PEP were moderately correlated (r = 0.67). When SBP was estimated using least-squares methods, the differences between the measured and predicted SBP using PEP, PAT and TT were 0.0 ± 6.6, 0.0 ± 4.9 and 0.0 ± 9.3 mmHg, respectively. The findings suggested that PAT gives the best SBP prediction and PEP has some potential to predict blood pressure. The inclusion of PEP in the PAT measurement is necessary to facilitate accurate cuffless blood pressure prediction after exercise.

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Abbreviations

BP:

Blood pressure

CE marked:

European marking indicating that the marked devices comply with the essential health and safety requirements

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

dPPG:

The first derivative of photoplethysmogram

ECG:

Electrocardiogram

HR:

Heart rate

ICG:

Impedance cardiogram

LS:

Least-squares

PAT:

Pulse arrival time

PEP:

Pre-ejection period

RRI:

The interval between successive peaks of the ECG R waves

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

SD:

Standard deviation

TT:

Vascular transit time

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Acknowledgments

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This work is supported by the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund and the 973 Project Fund (2010CB732606) in China. The authors would like to acknowledge Golden Meditech Company Ltd., Bird International Ltd. and Bright Steps Corporation for their support. The authors declare that the experiments conducted in the study comply with the laws of HKSAR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Joint Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Electronic Engineering Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Mico Yee Man Wong & Yuan Ting Zhang

  2. The Electronic and Computing Engineering Department, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong

    Emma Pickwell-MacPherson

  3. SIAT Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China

    Yuan Ting Zhang

  4. Key Laboratory for Biomedical Informatics and Health Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China

    Yuan Ting Zhang

  5. Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

    Jack C. Y. Cheng

Authors
  1. Mico Yee Man Wong
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  2. Emma Pickwell-MacPherson
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  3. Yuan Ting Zhang
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  4. Jack C. Y. Cheng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuan Ting Zhang.

Additional information

Communicated by Dag Linnarsson.

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Wong, M.Y.M., Pickwell-MacPherson, E., Zhang, Y.T. et al. The effects of pre-ejection period on post-exercise systolic blood pressure estimation using the pulse arrival time technique. Eur J Appl Physiol 111, 135–144 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1626-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1626-0

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