Assessing the challenges of a pulse wave velocity based blood pressure measurement in surgical patients.

Development of a continuous noninvasive blood pressure (cNIBP) monitor that is unobtrusive to patients is an attractive alternative to the cuff based measurements performed on medical-surgical floors in the hospital. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) provides a means to continuously monitor blood pressure in these patients. However, a PWV based cNIBP monitor faces a number of challenges in order to accurately measure blood pressure.