Suprasystolic measurement in a fast blood-pressure cycle

1. A method of manufacturing a measurement system, comprising:

providing a cuff;

providing a cuff controller to inflate the cuff to at least partially occlude an artery of a patient during a single dynamic phase;

configuring the cuff controller to maintain inflation of the cuff about a target pressure during a static phase, wherein the target pressure is a suprasystolic pressure;

providing a first sensor to acquire a signal associated with the at least partially occluded artery; and

providing a signal analysis module configured to determine a parameter based on the signal from the first sensor, wherein the parameter is determined based on a first set of data obtained over more than two cardiac cycles during the single dynamic phase and a second set of data obtained during the static phase, the second set of data being obtained over a defined number of cardiac cycles immediately following the beginning of the static phase.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal analysis module determines during inflation whether a suprasystolic measurement should be performed.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determination of whether a suprasystolic measurement should be performed is at least partially based on a physiological indicator.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal analysis module determines irregular heart beat timing using the first and second sets of data.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first set of data includes a first beat-to-beat time and the second set of data includes a second beat-to-beat time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a second sensor.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein an irregular signal is determined using data from the second sensor and the signal, wherein the second sensor is an accelerometer.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a filter to filter the signal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter is used to provide an indication of at least one of cardiac health, vascular health, and drug treatment.

10. A method of determining a parameter of a patient, comprising:

inflating a cuff to at least partially occlude an artery of the patient during a single dynamic phase;

substantially maintaining inflation of the cuff about a target pressure during a static phase, wherein the target pressure is a suprasystolic pressure;

acquiring a signal associated with the at least partially occluded artery using a first sensor; and

determining both a systolic pressure and the target pressure during the single dynamic phase and based on the signal, and control the cuff during the dynamic phase and the static phase; and

determining a parameter, using a signal analysis module, based on the signal, wherein the parameter is determined based on a first set of data obtained over more than two cardiac cycles during the single dynamic phase and a second set of data obtained during the static phase, the second set of data being obtained over a defined number of cardiac cycles immediately following the beginning of the static phase.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining during inflation using the signal analysis module whether a suprasystolic measurement should be performed.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determination of whether a suprasystolic measurement should be performed is at least partially based on a physiological indicator.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining an irregular heart beat timing using the first and second sets of data.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first set of data includes a first beat-to-beat time and the second set of data includes a second beat-to-beat time.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising maintaining the target pressure for less than about 10 seconds.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining an irregular signal using the signal analysis module.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the irregular signal is determined using data acquired from a second sensor, wherein the second sensor is an accelerometer, and the signal from the first sensor.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the signal analysis module uses a filter to filter the signal acquired using the first sensor.

19. The method of claim 10 , wherein the parameter is used to provide an indication of at least one of cardiac health, vascular health, and drug treatment.

20. A system for monitoring a patient, comprising:

a cuff configured to inflate to at least partially occlude an artery of the patient;

a cuff controller configured to inflate the cuff to a target pressure during a dynamic phase and, following the dynamic phase, generally maintain inflation of the cuff at about the target pressure during a static phase;

a sensor configured to receive a signal associated with the at least partially occluded artery;

a cuff control module configured to determine both a systolic pressure and the target pressure in real time during the dynamic phase and based on the output signal, and control the cuff controller during the dynamic phase and the static phase; and

a signal analysis module configured to determine an indication for the patient based on the signal, wherein the indication is determined based on a first set of data obtained over more than two cardiac cycles during the dynamic phase and a second set of data obtained over a defined number of cardiac cycles during the static phase.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the indication is of at least one of cardiac health, vascular health, and drug treatment.