now an embodiment of the present invention is described in the following with reference to fig1 through 3 . in this embodiment , the present invention is applied to an arm band type electronic blood pressure meter , and fig3 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of the electronic blood pressure meter of this embodiment . numeral 2 denotes a cuff of a known type , which is connected to a pressure sensor ( pressure detecting means ) 3 , a pressurization pump ( pressurization means ) 4 , a rapid vent valve ( depressurization means ) 5 , and a slow vent valve ( depressurization means ) 6 . the output signal of the pressure sensor 3 is fed to a cpu 7 . the pressurization pump 4 , the rapid vent valve 5 and the slow vent valve 6 are controlled by the cpu 7 . the cpu 7 is provided with various functions such as detecting a pulse wave from the output signal of the pressure sensor 3 and detecting the sharpest peaks from the detected pulse wave . the cpu 7 is connected to a display unit 8 of an lcd type and a start switch 9 . now the operation of this electronic blood pressure meter is described in the following . first of all , the cuff 2 is applied to the upper arm of the subject . then , the start switch 9 is turned on to start the operation of the pressurization pump 4 and start the process of pressurizing the cuff 2 ( step 1 or st1 ). in st2 , it is determined whether the cuff pressure pc agrees with a target pressure value ps . if the determination result is negative , the program flow continues a process of waiting until the cuff 2 is fully pressurized . however , if the determination result is affirmative , the program flow branches off to st3 . in st3 , the cpu 7 stops the operation of the pressurization pump 3 and , at the same time , opens the slow vent valve 6 to start the process of gradual depressurization . in st4 , the cuff pressure values pc . sub . ( i ) are sampled . the sampling period of this sampling process is normally 10 to 50 milliseconds , and &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; denotes the serial number of the sampling points . in st5 , a digital sampling process is performed on the sampled values pc . sub . ( i ) to extract pulse wave values pw 1 ( i ). in st6 , differentiated pulse wave values pw 2 ( i ) are obtained by differentiating the pulse wave values pw 1 ( i ) ( refer to fig1 ). in st7 , it is determined whether the point cp . sub . ( n ) where the differentiated pulse wave level pw 2 ( i ) exceeds a certain threshold level tha has been detected . the point cp . sub . ( n ) is the point which divides the pulse wave , and if the result of this determination process is negative , the program flow returns to st4 to repeat the sampling of the cuff pressure values pc . sub . ( i ). if the result of the determination process of st7 is affirmative , the program flow advances to the determination process of st8 . in st8 , it is determined whether cp . sub . ( n ) is equal to cp . sub . ( 1 ). if so , the program flow returns to st4 . this step is provided for the purpose of determining whether there are two or more cp . sub . ( n ) data because the process following st9 cannot be executed if that is not the case . if the determination result of st8 is affirmative , the program flow branches off to st9 , and a minimum value of the cuff pressure cp . sub . ( i ) near the time point of cp . sub . ( n ) is detected as pcc . sub . ( n ). then , in st10 , a line l . sub . ( n - 1 ) passing through both previously detected pcc . sub . ( n - 1 ) and current pcc . sub . ( n ) is computed . finally , a pulse wave pw 3 ( i ) is computed by subtracting the line l . sub . ( n - 1 ) from cuff pressure waveform pc ( n - 1 ) between pcc . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pcc . sub . ( n ) ( st11 ). the reason for obtaining the pulse wave pw 3 ( i ) by subtracting l . sub . ( n - 1 ) from pc . sub . ( n - 1 ) is that the pulse wave pw 1 ( i ) detected by digital filtering has a distorted waveform which is not suitable for detecting the sharpest negative peak . in st12 are detected points t d ( n - 1 ) and t u ( n - 1 ) at which pw 3 ( i ) intersects the threshold level thb as it falls and rises , respectively . the threshold level thb is typically set between 0 . 1 and 0 . 5 mmhg , but may also be a relative value such as so many percent of each peak of the pulse wave pw 3 ( i ) instead of such an absolute value . in next st13 , a time interval t . sub . ( n - 1 ) between t d ( n - 1 ) and t u ( n - 1 ) is computed and stored . this time interval t . sub . ( n - 1 ) is a variable for evaluating the sharpness of the negative peaks , and the smaller this value is the sharper the peak is . in st14 , t . sub . ( n - 1 ) is smoothed into tm . sub . ( n - 1 ) according to equation ( 2 ) given below : this is performed for the purpose of reducing the effects of such artifact interferences as respiratory irregular pulses and body motions . in st15 and st16 , inequalities tm . sub . ( n - 1 ) & lt ; tm . sub . ( n - 2 ) and tm . sub . ( n - 1 ) & lt ; tm . sub . ( n - 3 ) are evaluated ; the program flow advances to st17 only when both the inequalities hold but otherwise returns to st4 . in st17 , a minimum value is selected from tm . sub . ( 1 ) through tm . sub . ( n - 1 ) which have been computed so far and is defined as tm min . in st18 , the cuff pressure pc corresponding to tm min is set as a diastolic blood pressure value p dia . this diastolic blood pressure value p dia as well as the systolic blood pressure value p sys is displayed on the display unit 8 ( st19 ) and the rapid vent valve 5 is opened to release the upper arm of the subject from pressurization ( st20 ). fig4 is a graph showing the working principle of the second embodiment of the present invention , and fig5 is a flow chart of an algorithm , similar to the one shown in fig3 for determining a systolic blood pressure value . in this flow chart , st101 through st111 are identical to st1 through st11 of the previous embodiment , and description of this part of the flow chart is therefore omitted . as one can readily understand , the following process can be executed with the structure shown in fig1 . in st112 , the maximum value pwm . sub . ( n - 1 ) of the pulse wave pw 3 ( n - 1 ) is detected in the interval between pcc . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pc . sub . ( n ). further , in st113 are detected points t &# 39 ; u ( n - 1 ) and t &# 39 ; d ( n - 1 ) at which pw 3 ( i ) intersects a threshold level thc as it falls and rises , respectively . the threshold level thc is typically set between 0 . 1 and 0 . 5 mmhg , but may also be a relative value such as so many percent of each peak of the pulse wave pw 3 ( i ) instead of such an absolute value . in next st114 , a time interval t &# 39 ;. sub . ( n - 1 ) between t &# 39 ; u ( n - 1 ) and t &# 39 ;. sub . ( n - 1 ) is computed and stored . this time interval t &# 39 ;. sub . ( n - 1 ) is a variable for evaluating the sharpness of the positive peaks , and the smaller this value is the sharper the peak is . in st115 , t &# 39 ;. sub . ( n - 1 ) is smoothed into t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( n - 1 ) according to equation ( 3 ) given below : this is performed for the purpose of reducing the effects of such artifact interferences as respiratory irregular pulses and body motions . in st116 and st117 , inequalities t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( n - 1 ) & lt ; t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( n - 2 ) and t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( n - 1 )& lt ; t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( n - 3 ) are evaluated ; the program flow advances to st118 only when both the inequalities hold but otherwise returns to st104 . in st118 , a minimum value is selected from t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( 1 ) through t &# 39 ; m . sub . ( n - 1 ) which have been computed so far and is defined as t &# 39 ; m min . in st119 , the cuff pressure pc corresponding to t &# 39 ; m min is set as a systolic blood pressure value p sys . this systolic blood pressure value p sys as well as the diastolic blood pressure value p sys is displayed on the display unit 8 ( st120 ) and the rapid vent valve 5 is opened to release the upper arm of the subject from pressurization ( st121 ). although the algorithms given in the flow charts of fig3 and 5 were described as separate embodiments , it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that they can be readily combined into a consolidated process for determining both a systolic blood pressure value and a diastolic blood pressure value , and can be implemented as a single electronic blood pressure meter . alternatively , it is also possible to determine either a systolic blood pressure value or a diastolic blood pressure value according to one of the above described algorithms and determine the other blood pressure value according to other algorithms which may included conventionally known ones . in the above described embodiments , for instance , in the first embodiment , the pulse wave pw 3 ( i ) was obtained by subtracting the line l . sub . ( n - 1 ) connecting the points of intersection pcc . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pcc . sub . ( n ) from the cuff pressure waveform pc . sub . ( n - 1 ), but , alternatively , the process illustrated in fig6 may be used . according to this process , there is no difference from the above embodiment in that a differentiated pulse wave pw 3 &# 34 ; ( i ) is computed , and cp . sub . ( n ) is found by applying the condition of exceeding a threshold level tha for finding the point of intersection pcc . sub . ( n ) thereof with the cuff pressure waveform pc . sub . ( i ). then , the maximum value pcp . sub . ( n - 1 ) of the pulse wave pc . sub . ( i ) in the interval between pcc . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pcc . sub . ( n ) is detected . then , the line l . sub . ( n - 1 ) connecting pcp . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pcp . sub . ( n ) is computed . the line l . sub . ( n - 1 ) is subtracted from the cuff pressure pc . sub . ( i ) between pcp . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pcp . sub . ( n ) to produce the pulse wave pw 3 &# 34 ; ( i ). thereafter , a minimum value pwp . sub . ( n ) of the pulse wave pw 3 &# 34 ; ( i ) is selected from the interval between pcp . sub . ( n - 1 ) and pcp . sub . ( n ). the point at which a declining part of pw 3 ( i ) intersects the threshold level thb set above the pwp . sub . ( n ) is defined as t d ( n ) and a similar point of intersection of a rising part of pw 3 ( i ) is defined as t u ( n ). the difference t u ( n ) - t d ( n ) is computed and set as t . sub . ( n ). thereafter , in the same way as in the previous embodiment , a sharpest negative peak is detected according to the comparison of t . sub . ( n ). the above embodiments pertained to electronic blood pressure meters of an arm band type , but the present invention may also be applied to electronic blood pressure meters for a finger which are based on photoelectrically detected pulse waves . as described above , the electronic blood pressure meter of the present invention comprises peak extraction means for extracting sharpest peaks of the pulse wave detected by the pulse wave detecting means , and the blood pressure value determining means determines the cuff pressure corresponding to the sharpest negative peak and the sharpest positive peak detected by the peak extraction means as a diastolic blood pressure value and a systolic blood pressure value , respectively . therefore , the present invention has the advantage of being capable of determining a diastolic blood pressure value and a systolic blood pressure value , both accurately and reliably .
an electronic blood pressure meter which determines a systolic blood pressure value and a diastolic blood pressure value by detecting a sharpest positive peak and a sharpest negative peak of a pulse wave , respectively , which may be extracted from a cuff pressure . the sharpest peaks may be detected by finding the points of intersection of the pulse wave level with a certain threshold level and finding the shortest time interval between adjacent points of intersection interposing a peak therebetween . since the principle of measurement is exact and can be implemented as a relatively simple algorithm , accurate measurement is possible substantially without any exception .