Accurate, automated, continuously displayed pulmonary artery pressure measurement.

A computerized signal processing technique that removes low-frequency respiratory variation from pulmonary artery pressure and other central vascular pressure measurements, and produces a waveform devoid of respiratory artifact, has been developed. This technique has been integrated into a portable bedside monitor. The authors tested the technique in critically ill patients, and found that, compared to physician readings of conventional strip charts, it proved to be a very convenient and accurate method of determining pulmonary artery pressures continuously, regardless of ventilation.