blood pressure machines cuff pressure
blood pressure machines cuff pressure
(OP)
I am looking for a portable instrument that can be used to determine the "cuff pressure" of automatic blood pressure sphygmomanometers. I noted a large disparity between the results (systolic/diastolic) of an automatic sphygmomanometer and that of a requested manually operated sphygmomanometer. I questioned the physician about the exceptionally high values of the automatic device and he stated "the pressure is too high!"
The physicians have no way to adjust the cuff pressure of the automatic machines and I want to find out just how high some of them are going. During my follow-up inquiries, users have stated they have had tests where the cuff pressure was quite painful.
The physicians have no way to adjust the cuff pressure of the automatic machines and I want to find out just how high some of them are going. During my follow-up inquiries, users have stated they have had tests where the cuff pressure was quite painful.
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
But, I thought the 'cuff pressure' you seek to measure, and what's reported, was just that; the pressure in the pneumatically inflated torus... which at low flows should be equal throughout. So all you need is to insert a tee and a transducer in the hose supplying air to the cuff.
If you want to measure the pressure at the skin interface, that's a different kettle of fish.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
This process would work on the auto sphygmomanometers that inflate to a point well above systolic. There are some auto sphygmomanometers that incrementally inflate to just above systolic, but I don't think very many of those are in use.
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
My auto machine instructions states to wait 15 minutes before retesting to allow the blood vessels to return to normal (what is normal by age?), but one doctors auto sphygmomanometer, he uses on my wife, automatically recycles immediately after a test, and will continue to recycle until the doctor turns it off. He records the average of several consecutive tests.
A cursory search of the literature indicates that as people age their arteries and blood vessels loose some of their flexibility, thus it takes longer for them to "fully open" if they are subjected to a compression. An excessive compression to begin with will result in the same issue, the blood vessels haven't reestablished ambient flow by the time the "machine" has read the systolic and diastolic pressure.
The pressure applied to my artificial "arm" can be read directly by the analog pressure gauge. One only needs to inflate the "arm" under test to sufficient pressure to give it enough "body" that it can be compressed.
I am sure many other people have both manual and auto sphygmomanometers and can do the same test I have done.
I think the issue of excessive sphygmomanometer pressure should be examined thoroughly.
Some of the better auto sphygmomanometers inflate to only just above where blood flow stops, thus the pressure is limited. Still, there has to be a better way to measure blood pressure, as the current sphygmomanometer process can introduce errors.
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
It's also smart enough to recognize a heartbeat to some degree; it won't start a cycle until it's elevated to within a few cm of the heart's elevation.
I'm a little fuzzy on how the process could induce errors, or how you would detect them, since what's measured and reported is the pressure in a hopefully standardized cuff, not the pressure in the blood lumen.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
They have an invasive method of measuring blood pressure directly but it is used only in special cases.
It would be nice if they could find a method somewhat like they use to measure intraocular pressure. Unfortunately, the flexibility of an artery can introduce errors, just as thick or thin corneas can cause tonometer errors. I am sure some time in the future there will be a better device, and the medical history books will mention the sphygmomanometer in the same section as "bleeding a patient" to make him better.
If I did not question why my blood pressure was way high from an auto sphygmomanometer test I would be popping pills and making some drug company happy all the way to the bank.
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
After the Omron starts, can you then move it above your head or below your waist? I wonder how many mmHg change this results in blood pressure? Any muscular action is bound to alter your blood pressure, so I doubt any one reading you get will be meaningful, but if you take enough readings it might indicate a trend.
A search on the A.P.S. term always brings up Omron, so it might be a proprietary term for that company.
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
How firm is the device applied to the wrist before pressurization?
My searches on the internet haven't found anything on the A.P.S.
RE: blood pressure machines cuff pressure
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA