Real-time embedded control for continuous measurement of blood pressure: methodologic innovations Online publication date: Thu, 24-Feb-2022
by Leonardo Casal; Alejandro Mazzadi
International Journal of Embedded Systems (IJES), Vol. 14, No. 6, 2021
Abstract: Continuous blood-pressure (BP) waveform can be measured by the volume-clamp method, where a closed-loop control over a fast pneumatic actuator reproduces BP in a finger cuff. Frequent interruptions, however, are necessary to update arterial-wall compliance to a maximum. We implemented an embedded control in hard real time that measures BP without those interruptions. A microcontroller executes the control system at 2 ms while a computer asynchronously handles the most demanding tasks. The system's design included the following methodological innovations: 1) the arterial-compliance changes were estimated with high-frequency vibrations superimposed on the cuff pressure; 2) this information was used to update the control setpoint to maximum compliance, thus avoiding measurement interruptions; 3) the closed-loop stability was guaranteed with a recurrent redesign of the control; 4) the arterial-wall dynamics were identified for each subject in the control's design, thus improving the method's performance.
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