IP Library Granted Patent US 12,527,481
Granted Patent B1
US 12,527,481 · App. 17/343,165 · Granted Jan 20, 2026

Determining blood pressure using photoplethysmography (PPG)

Inventor: Markku Salkola (Los Altos, CA)
Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
A61B5/02108A61B5/02416A61B5/7267A61B5/7278G06N3/08G16H30/40A61B5/346
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,527,481
App. No.
17/343,165
Granted
Jan 20, 2026
Kind
B1
Abstract

A method for determining physiological characteristics is provided. The method involves causing light to be emitted by one or more light emitters toward a tissue of a user. The method involves obtaining samples of transmitted and/or reflected light. The method involves determining photoplethysmography (PPG) data based on the obtained samples. The method involves providing the PPG data as an input to a trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model has been trained, using a training set that comprises matched samples of electrocardiogram (ECG) data and PPG data. The method involves providing a blood pressure of the user based on an output of the trained machine learning model.

Claims (56)

1 . A method for determining physiological characteristics, comprising:

causing light to be emitted by one or more light emitters toward a tissue of a user;

obtaining samples of transmitted and/or reflected light;

determining photoplethysmography (PPG) data based on the obtained samples;

providing the PPG data as an input to a single trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model has been trained using a training set that comprises matched samples of electrocardiogram (ECG) data and PPG data, wherein the matched samples comprise PPG data labeled, based at least in part on characteristics of the ECG data, to indicate timepoints associated with features relevant to blood pressure, such that the machine learning model is trained to identify features of the PPG data relevant to blood pressure; and

providing a blood pressure of the user based on an output of the trained machine learning model.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data that were included in the training set comprise PPG data that has been labeled, using the ECG data, to indicate boundaries of pressure waveforms.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein motion data was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one item of demographic information associated with the user was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein recent activity data associated with the user was provided as an input to the trained learning model.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the one or more light emitters includes one or more light emitters of a wearable device worn by the user; and

the samples of transmitted and/or reflected light are obtained at one or more light sensors of the wearable device.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the blood pressure of the user includes sending an instruction to present the blood pressure to the user at a wearable device worn by the user.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the trained machine learning model is trained to identify features of the PPG data relevant to a systolic blood pressure and features of the PPG data relevant to a diastolic blood pressure; and

providing the blood pressure of the user based on the output of the trained machine learning model includes the systolic blood pressure and the diastolic blood pressure.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data comprise data from multiple people other than the user.

10 . A system for determining physiological characteristics, the system comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

cause light to be emitted by one or more light emitters toward a tissue of a user;

obtain samples of transmitted and/or reflected light;

determine photoplethysmography (PPG) data based on the obtained samples;

provide the PPG data as an input to a single trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model has been trained, using a training set that comprises matched samples of electrocardiogram (ECG) data and PPG data, wherein the matched samples comprise PPG data labeled, based at least in part on characteristics of the ECG data, to indicate timepoints associated with features relevant to blood pressure, such that the machine learning model is trained to identify features of the PPG data relevant to blood pressure; and

provide a blood pressure of the user based on an output of the trained machine learning model.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data that were included in the training set comprise PPG data that has been labeled, using the ECG data, to indicate boundaries of pressure waveforms.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein motion data was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein at least one item of demographic information associated with the user was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:

the one or more light emitters includes one or more light emitters of a wearable device worn by the user; and

the samples of transmitted and/or reflected light are obtained at one or more light sensors of the wearable device.

15 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data comprise data from multiple people other than the user.

16 . A smart watch including one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to:

cause light to be emitted by one or more light emitters of the smart watch toward a tissue of a user;

obtain samples of transmitted and/or reflected light at one or more light sensors of the smart watch;

determine photoplethysmography (PPG) data based on the obtained samples;

provide the PPG data as an input to a single trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model has been trained, using a training set that comprises matched samples of electrocardiogram (ECG) data and PPG data, wherein the matched samples comprise PPG data labeled, based at least in part on characteristics of the ECG data, to indicate timepoints associated with features relevant to blood pressure, such that the machine learning model is trained to identify features of the PPG data relevant to blood pressure; and

provide a blood pressure of the user based on an output of the trained machine learning model.

17 . The smart watch of claim 16 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data that were included in the training set comprise PPG data that has been labeled, using the ECG data, to indicate boundaries of pressure waveforms.

18 . The smart watch of claim 16 , wherein motion data was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

19 . The smart watch of claim 16 , wherein at least one item of demographic information associated with the user was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

20 . The smart watch of claim 16 , wherein providing the blood pressure of the user includes sending an instruction to present the blood pressure to the user at the smart watch.

21 . The smart watch of claim 16 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data comprise data from multiple people other than the user.

22 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

cause light to be emitted by one or more light emitters toward a tissue of a user;

obtain samples of transmitted and/or reflected light;

determine photoplethysmography (PPG) data based on the obtained samples;

provide the PPG data as an input to a single trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model has been trained, using a training set that comprises matched samples of electrocardiogram (ECG) data and PPG data, wherein the matched samples comprise PPG data labeled, based at least in part on characteristics of the ECG data, to indicate timepoints associated with features relevant to blood pressure, such that the machine learning model is trained to identify features of the PPG data relevant to blood pressure; and

provide a blood pressure of the user based on an output of the trained machine learning model.

23 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data that were included in the training set comprise PPG data that has been labeled, using the ECG data, to indicate boundaries of pressure waveforms.

24 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein motion data was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

25 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , at least one item of demographic information associated with the user was provided as an input to the trained machine learning model.

26 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein:

the one or more light emitters includes one or more light emitters of a wearable device worn by the user; and

the samples of transmitted and/or reflected light are obtained at one or more light sensors of the wearable device.

27 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the matched samples of ECG data and PPG data comprise data from multiple people other than the user.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 19, 2022
From: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
To: META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 060130/0404 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 9, 2021
From: SALKOLA, MARKKU
To: FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 056491/0897 →
Continuity (1)
Provisional Application 63147568 · Feb 9, 2021
References Cited (32)
US 9596997B1 · Ritscher et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9949694B2 · Albadawi et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20030208129A1 · Beker et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20070167848A1 · Kuo et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20140156197A1 · Kim · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140171755A1 · LeBoeuf et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140276127A1 · Ferdosi et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150320328A1 · Albert · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160166160A1 · Casale · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20180242863A1 · Lui · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180249964A1 · Qian et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190090756A1 · Lu et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190101984A1 · Talati et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190110755A1 · Capodilupo et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190251401A1 · Shechtman et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200093386A1 · Biswas et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200100693A1 · Velo · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200196897A1 · Biswas · 2020 [cited by examiner]
CN 110664390A · 2020 [cited by examiner]
Estimation and Validation of Arterial Blood Pressure Using Photoplethysmogra Morphology Features in Conjunction With Pulse Arrival Time in Large Open Databases; Seungman Yang et al., Date of publication Jul. 16, 2020 (Y… [cited by examiner]
Umit et al. (hereafter Umit), “Repetitive neural network (RNN) based blood pressure estimation using PPG and ECG signals”, pub. 2018 in IEEE (Year: 2018). [cited by examiner]
“IEEE Signal Processing Cup Data 2015,” IEEE signal processing Society, 2015, 4 pages, Retrieved from the Internet: URL: https://signalprocessingsociety.org/community-involvement/ieee-signal-processing-cup-2015. [cited by applicant]
Louka K., et al., “An Investigation of the Individualized, Two-Point Calibration Method for Cuffless Blood Pressure Estimation using Pulse Arrival Time: A Historical Perspective using the Casio BP-100 Digital Watch,” 43… [cited by applicant]
“Physionet—The Research Resource for Complex Physiologic Signals,” 2022, 6 pages, Retrieved from the Internet: URL: https://physionet.org/. [cited by applicant]
AHA: How the Healthy Heart Works, https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/congenital-heart-defects/about-congenital-heart-defects/how-the-healthy-heart-works, downloaded Jan. 28, 2021. [cited by applicant]
Pimentel, et al. “BIDMC PPG and Respiration Dataset, 2018” https://physionet.org/content/bidmc/1.0.0/, downloaded Jan. 28, 2021. [cited by applicant]
Reisner et al., “Utility of the Photoplethysmogram in Circulatory Monitoring”, Anesthesiology, vol. 108, No. 5, May 2008, pp. 950-958. [cited by applicant]
Wikipedia, “QRS Complex”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QRS_complex, downloaded Jan. 28, 2021. [cited by applicant]
Zhang, et al., “Troika: A General Framework for Heart Rate Monitoring Using Wrist-Type Photoplethysmographic Signals During Intensive Physical Exercise”, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 62, No. 2, Feb.… [cited by applicant]
Non-Final Office Action mailed Mar. 27, 2024 for U.S. Appl. No. 17/343,183, filed Jun. 9, 2021, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
Final Office Action mailed Feb. 4, 2025 for U.S. Appl. No. 17/343,183, filed Jun. 9, 2021, 26 pages. [cited by applicant]
Non-Final Office Action mailed Jun. 20, 2025 for U.S. Appl. No. 17/343,183, filed Jun. 9, 2021, 36 pages. [cited by applicant]