Experimental analysis of blood pressure estimation using electrocardiography and photoplethysmography signals from fingertip measurements

Abstract

This study investigates the indirect estimation of systolic and diastolic blood pressure using electrocardiography and photoplethysmography signals acquired from the fingertip. Two distinct approaches for blood pressure calculation were evaluated: one based on linear and non-linear models, and another utilizing mathematical models to determine diastolic pressure through mean arterial pressure. The research was conducted using the MAX86150 Evaluation System, with algorithm development and analysis performed in MATLAB. Blood pressure calculations were applied to two patients of different ages, and the results were compared. Additionally, the study examined measurement uncertainty and the role of statistical methods in data validation. It was established that the expanded measurement uncertainty does not exceed ± 11.55 mmHg for systolic blood pressure and ± 7.84 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure at a 95 % confidence level, which complies with the clinical accuracy requirements of the British Hypertension Society and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI/ANSI/ISO 81060-2:2018). The results showed that the approach based on the mathematical model of mean diastolic pressure demonstrated higher accuracy of arterial pressure estimation. The proposed algorithm exhibited strong reliability, highlighting the need for further validation against reference measurement tools in future research. However, a key limitation of the study is the small sample size — measurements were conducted on only two patients, which significantly restricts the generalizability of the findings.