cuff pressure level is needed to complete the oscillometric envelope then the method 200 returns back to step 212 where the cuff 12 is deflated to a lower cuff pressure level it should be appreciated that additional methods of determining if oscillation amplitude data from a lower cuff pressure level is required may also be employed as the method 200 iteratively cycles through steps 212 through 216 the cuff pressure level is decreased in either a stepwise manner or a continuous manner for the purposes of this disclosure u201c decreased in a stepwise manner u201d is defined to include a deflation process where the cuff pressure level is decreased in steps and where the cuff pressure level is maintained at a generally constant value at times when the oscillation amplitude data is collected for the purposes of this disclosure u201c decreased in a continuous manner u201d is defined to include a deflation process where the cuff pressure level is continuously decreased while oscillation amplitude data is collected it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that u201c decreased in a continuous manner u201d includes methods employing both a generally constant rate of deflation of the cuff 12 and a variable rate of deflation of the cuff 12 it should also be appreciated that it may be possible to adaptively change either the rate of deflation or the size of the steps between cuff pressure levels it should be understood that it may also be possible to use additional patterns of inflation and deflation in order to most efficiently acquire oscillation amplitude data referring to fig2 and 3 a cuff pressure level versus time plot 38 of steps 202 216 of an embodiment of the method 200 is shown from a time t 10 until a time t.