Non-invasive blood pressure measurement devices, systems and methods

Abstract

The disclosed non-invasive blood pressure measurement systems and methods using the conservation of mass, conservation of momentum, and/or constitutive equation(s), which may also include the water hammer equation use pulse wave velocity and blood velocity. There are multiple manners by which pulse wave velocity and blood velocity may be assessed by transmitting energy, such as light or ultrasound, through tissues of the patient and measuring values and times of reflectivity of the energy from the interrogated tissues. Blood pressure can be determined from the one or more manners of assessing the PWV, blood velocity, and blood flow profile.

Description

BACKGROUND

The blood pressure of a patient is a critical measurement that is used in monitoring and treating the patient. There are two means by which the blood pressure of the patient can be measured—one is invasive and the other is non-invasive. In the invasive means, the blood pressure is obtained by direct measurement, requiring a sensor to be inserted into the circulatory system of the patient to obtain the measurements. As such, the invasive means, while providing an accurate measurement, can cause discomfort in the patient or the subject for which the blood pressure is being measured. Additionally, there is an increased risk of complications and/or expense due to the invasive nature of such blood pressure measurement. Such increased complications risk and/or expenses can be unwarranted in many cases, such as during a simple patient examination.

In the non-invasive means, the sensing of the blood pressure is done externally to the patient. Typically, this involves the application of a cuff about a limb of the patient and the pressurization of the cuff to cut off circulation through the limb. The pressure applied by the cuff to the limb is slowly reduced and as blood flow is resumed, the blood pressure can be measured based on the pressure remaining in the cuff. This process is often repeated multiple times to monitor blood pressure, with pauses required between measurement instances. While this means is non-invasive, it does require the temporary cessation of circulation in a portion of the patient, which can be uncomfortable or damaging to the health of the patient and requires time for the process to be fully performed. Additionally, such non-invasive blood pressure measurement techniques are sensitive to motion of the patient and equipment, which can result in inaccurate and/or unobtainable blood pressure measurements. In patient transport or emergency situations, the patient and equipment can be subjected to a large amount of motion during time in which an accurate blood pressure measurement can be critical to assess the state of the patient.

Blood pressure measurement and/or monitoring can be improved by non-invasive blood pressure systems and/or methods that do not require the restriction of circulation and provides the accurate blood pressure values/measurements needed for patient treatment and/or monitoring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example non-invasive blood pressure device.

FIG. 2 is an example method non-invasive blood pressure measurement method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed devices, systems and methods non-invasively determine, measure and/or calculate a blood pressure of a patient. Data and/or measurements of the patient's blood flow and vessel, or vascular, structures are obtained in a non-invasive manner and are used to calculate at least one of a pulse wave velocity (PWV), blood velocity, blood flow profile and/or vessel geometry. These values are then used to calculate a blood pressure of the patient using the conservation of mass, the conversation of momentum, or the constitutive equation and/or water hammer equation, such as described in related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/874,796 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/103,797, the contents of which are both incorporated by reference. In an example, energy, such as ultrasound or light, can be transmitted through the tissues of a patient. The energy will reflect from the tissues based on their reflectivity and the reflected energy can be received and used to calculate the various values/geometries, which can be used to calculate a blood pressure of the patient. The calculated/determined blood pressure can be used to provide blood pressure data to one or more devices, systems and/or users, such as for the treatment and/or monitoring of the patient.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) device 100. The NIBP device includes an energy module 110, an output module 120, a communication module 130, a processor 140, a power supply 150 and a signal processing module 160. In one example, the energy module 110 can be an ultrasound module although it could be a module that emits other forms of energy as well, such as light, for example. Using the ultrasound energy embodiment as an example here, the NIBP device can be placed on a patient to emit ultrasound energy into tissues of the patient. The ultrasound energy will transmit through the tissues of the patient and will reflect therefrom. The reflected ultrasound energy will have characteristics, such as a power level, Doppler shift, and/or other characteristics, based on the reflectivity of the tissues which is caused by an impedance change in the reflected signal due to the density of the tissues through which the ultrasound energy transmits and/or change in the speed of the ultrasound energy during transit through the tissues. The reflected energy can be processed to generate measurements and/or calculations of various patient physiological parameters, including a blood pressure of the patient.

The ultrasound module 110 includes one or more transducers 112 which output ultrasound energy in response to an applied electrical signal and output an electrical signal in response to received energy, such as reflected ultrasound energy. The electrical signal applied to the transducer(s) 112 can cause the ultrasound energy emitted by the transducer(s) 112 to have various properties/characteristics, such as a wavelength, frequency, intensity, waveform and/or other properties/characteristics. The received reflected ultrasound energy causes the transducer(s) 112 to generate an electrical signal, such as a reflected energy signal, that can be processed, such as by the signal processing module 160, to measure/calculate one or more patient physiological characteristics/measurements.

In an example, the ultrasound module 110 can include multiple transducers 112. The transducers 112 can be arranged, such as in an array, and/or coordinated to emit and/or receive ultrasound energy in a desired, or required, manner. Additionally, the transducers 112 can be interconnected by various switching elements to control the emission and/or reception of ultrasound energy by the transducers 112.

The output module 120 can include a visual 122 and/or an audible output 124. The visual 122 and/or an audible output 124 can be used to provide information, such as a calculation, alert and/or other information, from the NIBP device 100 to a user or other device. The visual output 122 can include a screen, lights and/or other visible outputs that can provide visually interpretable/receivable information to the user or other device. The audible output 124 can include a speaker, buzzer, annunciator and/or other audible outputs that can provide audibly interpretable/receivable information to the user or other device.

The communication module 130 can provide communication from, to and/or between the NIBP device 100 and an external device and/or system, such as a mobile computing device, a patient monitoring system and/or other devices/systems remote from and/or coupled to the NIBP device 100. The communication can be through a connection, such as a wired 132 and/or a wireless connection 134. The wired connection 132 can include a physical connection between and capable of providing communication from, to and/or between the NIBP device 100 and another device/system, such as a wire(s). The wireless connection 134 can include a wireless connection between and capable of providing communication from, to and/or between the NIBP device 100 and another device/system, such as a network, WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, and/or other wireless connection. Communication from the NIBP device 100, to another device/system, can include calculation and/or measured data, an operating status of the NIBP device 100 and/or other information from, or regarding, the NIBP device 100. Communication to the NIBP device 100, from another device/system, can include operating instructions/commands, data from an external source and/or other information to the NIBP device 100.

The processor 140 can assist, and/or control operation of, one or more of the modules of the NIBP device 100, such as the ultrasound module 110, the output module 120, communication module 130 and signal processing module 160. In an example, the processor 140 can be accessed by the signal processing module 160, and/or included therein, to assist with processing the reflected energy signal from the ultrasound module 110. Alternatively, or additionally, the processor 140 can control operation of the NIBP device 100, such as in response to an input by a user, device and/or system. Inputs by a user can be received through an interface of the NIBP device 100, such as a button or touchscreen, and/or through an interface on an external device/system in communication with, or coupled to, the NIBP device 100, such as through an application on the external device/system.

The power supply 150 can provide, and/or distribute, power to the various functions and/or features of the NIBP device 100. In an example, the power supply can be an energy storage device, such as a battery, that can be rechargeable, replaceable, removable and/or permanent. Alternatively, or additionally, the power supply 150 can include a physical connection that can be connected to an external power source, such as a wall outlet or another device/system, to provide power to the various functions and/or features of the NIBP device 100.

The signal processing module 160 can receive and process the reflected energy signal from the ultrasound module 110 to measure/calculate a pulse wave velocity (PWV) parameters 162, blood velocity parameters 172, blood flow profile parameters 178, vessel geometry parameters 180, and/or a blood pressure 182. Alternatively, the reflected energy signal, or data, can be communicated to another device/system, which can process the reflected energy to calculate/determine one or more of the values. The NIBP device 100 can measure/calculate the blood pressure of a patient, in a non-invasive manner, using one or more of the measured/calculated parameters of the PWV 162, blood velocity 172, blood flow profile 178 and/or vessel geometry 180. To measure/calculate the blood pressure, the NIBP device 100 can use a constitutive equation and/or water hammer equation that relates the one or more measured/calculated parameter to a blood pressure of the patient.

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) 162 is a measure of the velocity of an arterial pressure pulse as it travels through the circulatory system of a patient. A simple measurement of a distance the pulse travels in a measured amount of time can be used to determine PWV, however, this requires tracking the propagation of the pulse wave between two fixed points having a known distance between them. In another method, PWV can be measured at a single location using a variety of factors, such as various vessel geometry measurements obtained/determined with respect to time and assumptions regarding the flow of blood through a circulatory system. Described below are other methods/calculations for determining/calculating/measuring the PWV using ultrasound or light.

A first manner can include direct measurements using elastography 164. Ultrasound shear wave imaging techniques can be used to image the motion of the vessel, or tissues, as the pulse wave propagates through. Using this data, the speed of the pulse wave can be calculated/determined. The PWV data can then be used, such as in the constitutive equation and/or the waterhammer equation, to calculate a blood pressure of a patient.

In a second manner, a direct measurement of the Young's modulus 166 of a vessel can be made. The Moens-Kortweg equation (Equation 1), shown below, relates PWV to the Young's modulus (E(x)) 166, wall thickness (h(x)), vessel radius (R₀(x)) and density (ρ). Both the wall thickness (h(x)) and vessel radius (R₀(x)) can be measured/calculated using one or more ultrasound techniques and the density (ρ) can be a known, or an assumed, value of the density of blood. Young's modulus 166 can also be measured, or calculated, and used with the other values to calculate PWV, as shown below.

$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{PWV}=\sqrt{\frac{E\left(x\right)h\left(x\right)}{2R_0\left(x\right)\rho }}& \mathrm{Equation}1\end{array}$

Young's modulus, E(x), is defined as stress over strain and can be expressed in terms of tensile stress (Force/unit area) and strain (relative elongation), as shown in Equation 2, below:

$\begin{array}{cc}E\equiv \frac{\frac{F}{A}}{\frac{\Delta L}{L_0}}& \mathrm{Equation}2\end{array}$

To calculate the Young's modulus 166 using ultrasound, the transducers 112 can be controlled to emit acoustic radiation force imaging (ARFI) pulses, often used in ultrasound for high frame rate shear wave imaging, such as used in ultrasound elastography, to apply pressure on the vessel to “push” the vessel using acoustic, or ultrasound, energy. The amount, or magnitude, of force (F) applied to the vessel by this imaging technique can be estimated by correlating it to movement observed in the surrounding tissues using speckle tracking, the magnitude of reflection and/or a calculation. To determine the area (A) over which the force is applied, an estimation can be made from the beam pattern computations regarding the emitted ultrasound energy and/or a calculation/measurement can be made from measurements of the tissue movement using speckle tracking. The force applied to the vessel using ultrasound can be emitted from a single direction and/or from multiple directions simultaneously. Alternatively, or additionally, the force to the vessel can be applied in other means, such as by palpation of the vessel, and measurements/estimates/calculations of the applied force can be made using the above-described, or other, ultrasound techniques, as well as other non-ultrasound techniques such as light, pressure or motion sensors.

The strain of the vessel is measured as distention of the vessel, that is, an increasing radius of the vessel compared to a previous, or static, radius measurement. Ultrasound technique(s) can be used to measure, or calculate, the change in circumference of the vessel and/or a change in a length of a portion of the circumference of the vessel. When measuring a change in length of a portion of the circumference, the portion being measured is the same portion to which the force is being applied. The strain can then be calculated by dividing the measured/determined change in circumferential length by a known original length.

With both stress and strain of the vessel, or portion thereof, known, the Young's modulus 166 can be calculated using Equation 2. With the Young's modulus 166 measured/calculated/determined, the PWV can be calculated using Equation 1.

Alternatively, ultrasound shear wave imaging, such as described with regards to elastography, can be used to indirectly measure the Young's modulus 166 of the vessel. The shear wave speed is related to the Young's modulus 166 of the vessel and using the measured/known/calculated shear wave speed, the Young's modulus 166 can be computed, tabulated and/or correlated using empirical data.

In a further alternative, the use of AFRI pulses will cause surface waves on the vessel wall, these waves can be measured and are a function of the stiffness of the vessel. As such, these measured values can be correlated, such as by an equation or look-up table, to a Young's modulus 166 of the vessel.

In a further alternative for approximately linear elastic materials, Young's modulus can be computed by simple relationships of at least two other mechanical properties such as bulk modulus, Poison's ratio, Lame parameters, P-wave and S-wave velocities, etc. Measurement of these other mechanical properties may be made using imaging techniques.

In a third manner, the PWV can be computed using the Bramwell-Hill equation 168, Equation 3, shown below:

$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{PWV}=\sqrt{\frac{\mathrm{dPV}}{\rho \mathrm{dV}}}& \mathrm{Equation}3\end{array}$

Equation 3 relates PWV to pressure (P), volume (V) and density (ρ). A conservation of momentum equation, Equation 4 below, can be used to equate the partial derivatives of the pressure with respect to the dimension of the vessel axis to time and spatial partials of the blood flow.

$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{\partial P}{\partial x}\frac{1}{\rho }=-\left(\frac{\partial U}{\partial t}+\left(2\alpha -1\right)U\frac{\partial U}{\partial x}+\left(\alpha -1\right)\frac{U^2}{A}\frac{\partial A}{\partial x}+2\left(\zeta +2\right)\frac{\mathrm{\mu \pi }U}{\rho A}\right)& \mathrm{Equation}4\end{array}$

In Equation 4, U represents flow, a represents Coriolis coefficients and ζ represents a flow profile constant as describe in later equations. Equation 4 is used as the first factor dP/ρ of Equation 3 by interpreting dP as a partial with respect to axial distance.

Volume is simply related to area times length, as shown in Equation 5 below where Δx is an arbitrary, fixed length of vessel.

V(x,t)=A(x,t)Δx  Equation 5

The partial with respect to distance can be expressed as Equation 6, below, noting that Δx is a constant with respect to the partial derivative.

$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{\partial V\left(x,t\right)}{\partial x}=\frac{\partial A\left(x,t\right)}{\partial x}\Delta x& \mathrm{Equation}6\end{array}$

Using Equations 4-6, the various values necessary for Equation 3 can be calculated/determined to solve for PWV as shown in equation 7 interpreting the differentials of Equation 3 as a ratio of partials with respect to the axial dimension.

$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{PWV}=\sqrt{-\left(\begin{array}{c}\frac{\partial U}{\partial t}+\left(2\alpha -1\right)U\frac{\partial U}{\partial x}+\\ \left(\alpha -1\right)\frac{U^2}{A}\frac{\partial A}{\partial x}+2\left(\zeta +2\right)\frac{\mathrm{\mu \pi }U}{\rho A}\end{array}\right)\left(\frac{A\left(x,t\right)}{\frac{\partial A\left(x,t\right)}{\partial x}}\right)}& \mathrm{Equation}7\end{array}$

When the center terms containing partials with respect to x are small compared to other terms, then PWV can be simplified as Equation 8:

$\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{PWV}=\sqrt{-\left(\frac{\partial U}{\partial t}+2\left(\zeta +2\right)\frac{\mathrm{\mu \pi }U}{\rho A}\right)\left(\frac{A\left(x,t\right)}{\frac{\partial A\left(x,t\right)}{\partial x}}\right)}& \mathrm{Equation}8\end{array}$

The various values necessary for use in these equations, such as blood velocity and geometrical dimensions of the vessel, can be measured/determined using ultrasound techniques.

In a fourth manner, PWV can be calculated using the water hammer equation 170, Equation 9, shown below. Equation 9 includes simultaneous considerations of conservation of mass and momentum.

dP(x,t)=−ρPWC dU(x,t)  Equation 9

Equation 9 an be divided by a vessel segment length, Δx, to create Equation 10, below.

$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{\Delta P\left(x,t\right)}{\Delta x}=-\mathrm{PWV}\frac{\Delta U\left(x,t\right)}{\Delta x}& \mathrm{Equation}10\end{array}$

The left hand side of Equation 10 is equivalent to Equation 4, which contains values measureable using ultrasound techniques. Similarly,

$\frac{\Delta U\left(x,t\right)}{\Delta x}$

is a measurable value of the change in flow, U, with respect to the segment length and time. Density (ρ) is a known value and the terms of Equation 10 can be rewritten so that PWV is expressed in known and measurable values, as shown in Equation 11 below.

$\mathrm{Equation}11$ $\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{PWV}=\frac{\left(\frac{\Delta P\left(x,t\right)}{\Delta x}\right)}{\left(\rho \frac{\Delta U\left(x,t\right)}{\Delta x}\right)}\\ =\frac{\left(\frac{\partial U}{\partial t}+\left(2\alpha -1\right)U\frac{\partial U}{\partial x}+\left(\alpha -1\right)\frac{U^2\partial A}{A\partial x}+2\left(\zeta +2\right)\frac{\mathrm{\mu \pi }U}{\rho A}\right)}{\left(\frac{\Delta U\left(x,t\right)}{\Delta x}\right)}\end{array}$

The measurable values can be taken/made as averages across the cross-sectional area of the vessel to assist with simplification of the calculation with minimal impact to the accuracy of the calculated PWV value and later blood pressure.

Using one or more of the above equations, the PWV value can be determined and used in blood pressure calculations, such as the constitutive equation and/or water hammer equation, to calculate/determine a blood pressure of a patient.

Blood velocity 172 can be calculated and/or measured in a variety of manners. Typical manners can include the use of pulse wave Doppler (PWD) or continuous wave Doppler (CWD) ultrasound imaging techniques. Described below are other manners of calculating/determining blood velocity 172 using measured/calculated values, obtained using one or more ultrasound techniques.

In a first manner, the blood velocity 172 can be determined/calculated using very fast Doppler imaging 174. Plane wave isonification, from one or more angles, can be performed and a times series of data associated with each ultrasound element, such as a transducer 112, can be collected. The collected time series data can then be beamformed to provide an improved/increased frame rate for the given region of interest. The increased frame rate provides enhanced temporal resolution from which derivatives with respect to time can be made/calculated to determine/calculate the blood velocity 172.

In a second manner, vector velocity imaging, or speckle tracking, 176 can be used to calculate/determine the blood velocity 172. The reflection coefficient of blood cells can be imaged using B-mode ultrasound methods. The reflection of ultrasound energy from the blood cells causes moving speckles in the ultrasound image. These speckles can be tracked to determine a velocity of the speckle, or blood cell. The various speckles can be tracked with respect to a frame rate, i.e. time. Using the frame rate and tracking of the speckles, a vector velocity profile can be calculated/determined. Alternatively, or additionally, directional beamforming, synthetic aperture flow imaging and/or transverse oscillations can be used to perform vector velocity imaging 176 using ultrasound.

The Coriolis coefficient, α, of Equation 4, can be calculated/determined using ultrasound imaging/measurement techniques of the blood flow velocity profile in the radial direction. The Coriolis coefficient can be expressed as Equation 12, below.

$\begin{array}{cc}\alpha \left(x,t\right)=\frac{1}{{\mathrm{AU}}^2}{\int }_AU^2d\sigma & \mathrm{Equation}12\end{array}$

In Equations 4, 7, 8 and 11, U is flow and A is cross-sectional area of the vessel. The integration of the flow across the cross-sectional area provides more accurate information than using an assumed average flow. Additionally, this method also allows for the value of the flow profile constant, ζ, to be calculated/determined, such as by using Equation 13, below.

$\begin{array}{cc}\zeta =\frac{2-\alpha }{\alpha -1}& \mathrm{Equation}13\end{array}$

The signal processing module 160 can also calculate one or more vessel geometry 180 characteristics, such as the cross-sectional area, radius, circumference and/or other geometric characteristics of the interrogated vessel. These vessel geometry measurements can be used in conjunction with one or more of the above equations/relationships to calculate/determine values, such as the PWV 162, blood velocity 172 and/or blood flow profile 178.

Using the one or more methods/equations described above, one or more values of the PWV 162, blood velocity 172, blood flow profile 178 and/or vessel geometry 180 can be calculated/determined. The one or more values can be used together, alone and/or with other information to calculate/determine a blood pressure 182 of the patient, such as by using a constitutive equation and/or water hammer equation.

FIG. 2 is an example method 200 for determining a blood pressure in a non-invasive manner. The method 200 uses pulse wave velocity (PWV) and/or blood velocity to determine/calculate a blood pressure. At 202, ultrasound energy is emitted, such as transmitted into tissues of the patient. Based on the reflectivity of the various tissues, through which the ultrasound energy transmits, ultrasound energy will reflect therefrom and be received at 204. Using the reflected ultrasound energy, a PWV can be calculated at 206 and/or a blood velocity can be calculated at 208. The calculations 206 and 208 can be made using one or more of the equations and/or methods described herein. Using one or more of the calculated values, a blood pressure can be calculated at 210. The calculated blood pressure can be output to a user, device and/or system and, optionally, used to assist with monitoring and/or treating a patient.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be used for realizing the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. A non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) device, comprising: an energy module having one or more transducers configured to emit energy towards at least one of a blood vessel of a patient or blood flowing through the blood vessel of a patient, the one or more transducers configured to: receive at least a portion of the energy reflected from the at least one of the blood vessel of the patient or blood flowing through the blood vessel of the patient, andgenerate a reflected energy signal based on the received energy;a signal processing module configured to: calculate at least one of a pulse wave velocity (PWV) or a blood velocity from the reflected energy signal; anddetermine a blood pressure of the patient based, at least in part, on the at least one of: a PWV or the blood velocity, orone or more blood vessel geometries.

2. The NIBP device of claim 1, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the PWV includes configuring the one or more transducers to emit ultrasound energy to perform a shear wave imaging technique.

3. The NIBP device of claim 1, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the PWV includes calculating the Young's modulus of the blood vessel.

4. The NIBP device of claim 3, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the Young's modulus of the blood vessel includes configuring the one or more transducers to: emit the energy as acoustic radiation force imaging (ARFI) pulses,determine a magnitude of force applied to the blood vessel by measuring the reflected energy signal.

5. The NIBP device of claim 4, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the Young's modulus of the blood vessel includes estimating an area over which the force is applied to the blood vessel, the Young's modulus being determined based on the magnitude of the force and the area over which the force is applied.

6. The NIBP device of claim 3, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the PWV further includes calculating a wall thickness of the blood vessel and a radius of the blood vessel based on the reflected energy signal and applying the calculated Young's modulus, wall thickness and radius of the blood vessel to the Moens-Kortweg equation to calculate the PWV.

7. The NIBP device of claim 3, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the Young's modulus includes emitting the ultrasound energy to induce a shear wave and measuring the shear wave and relating a speed of the shear wave to a known value of the Young's modulus.

8. The NIBP device of claim 3, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the Young's modulus includes: emitting the energy to cause surface waves on a wall of the blood vessel,measuring the surface waves and relating the measurement of the surface waves to a known value of the Young's modulus.

9. The NIBP device of claim 1, wherein the signal processing module configured to calculate the PWV includes calculating the blood velocity and a cross-sectional area of the blood vessel based on the reflected energy signal.

10. The NIBP device of claim 9, wherein the PWV is calculated using the Bramwell and Hill equation using the blood velocity and the cross-sectional area of the blood vessel calculated based on the reflected energy signal.

11. The NIBP device of claim 1, wherein the energy is emitted and received to perform a very fast Doppler imaging technique, the reflected energy signal based on the very fast Doppler imaging technique, the blood velocity calculated based on the reflected energy signal based on the very fast Doppler imaging technique.

12. The NIBP device of claim 1, wherein the energy is emitted and received to perform a vector velocity imaging technique, the reflected energy signal based on the vector velocity imaging technique, the blood velocity calculated based on the reflected energy signal based on the vector velocity technique.

13. The NIBP device of claim 1, wherein the signal processing module is further configured to calculate a blood flow profile based on the reflected energy signal.

14. A method of calculating a blood pressure in a non-invasive manner, the method including: emitting energy from one or more transducers, the energy directed towards at least one of a blood vessel of a patient or blood flowing through the vessel;receiving energy, by the one or more transducers, reflected from the at least one of the blood vessel or the blood flowing through the vessel;generating a reflected energy signal based on the received energy;calculating at least one of: a pulse wave velocity (PWV) or a blood velocity, orone or more vessel geometries from the reflected energy signal; andcalculating the blood pressure based on the calculated at least one of the PWV or the blood velocity or the one or more vessel geometries.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein ultrasound energy is emitted to perform shear wave imaging, and wherein calculating the PWV includes measuring tissue movement based on the reflected energy signal.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein calculating the PWV includes calculating a Young's modulus of the blood vessel.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein ultrasound energy is emitted as acoustic radiation force imaging (ARFI) pulses, and calculating the Young's modulus includes calculating a magnitude of force, caused by the ARFI pulses, applied to a wall of the blood vessel, and estimating an area over which the force is applied.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein ultrasound energy is emitted to perform very fast Doppler imaging, and wherein the blood velocity is calculated based on the very fast Doppler imaging.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the blood velocity is calculated using vector velocity imaging.