Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring arterial properties, including systolic and diastolic pressure levels, of a subject is provided, in which a hardware processor receives and analyzes ballistocardiogram (BCG) data of the subject. A non-transient computer readable medium, accessible by the hardware processor, contains instructions that, when executed by the hardware processor, identify features of the BCG waveform and determine the arterial properties therefrom. For example, a diastolic pressure level may be determined from a time interval between the ‘I’ and ‘J’ peaks of the waveform and a systolic pressure level determined from the amplitude difference between the ‘J’ and ‘K’ peaks of the waveform in combination with the ‘I-J’ time interval or amplitude difference. A physical mechanism for the BCG data is disclosed that enables other arterial properties of the subject to be determined from the BCG data alone or from the BCG data in combination with other measurements.