In order to fully automate the inflation timing and deflation timing of an intra-aortic balloon pump, certain delays intrinsic in the system must be taken into account. A process for calculating these delays includes determining a nominal inflate command time, adding a dither time interval to the nominal inflate command time to obtain an actual inflate time, and determining a deflate command time. An inflation/deflation cycle is then processed in which the intra-aortic balloon pump is inflated at the actual inflate command time and deflated at the deflate command time. Blood pressure data is acquired from the patient during the inflation/deflation cycle, and is then analyzed to determine a realization time at which the effects of inflating the intra-aortic balloon are realized on the blood pressure waveform. From this the total delay time between the actual inflate command time and the realization time can be determined.
