Monitor Blood Pressure Measurement – Measuring Blood Monitor Pressure: Blood Pressure Monitoring Key.

It is essential to maintain the blood supply and function of vital organs. Therefore, the key part of monitoring patients and non-patients is the monitor blood pressure measurement.

A numerical value is not possible to arrive at rough estimates without the use of some medical equipment. Manual monitor blood pressure measurement requires the use of sphygmomanometer which has an inflatable cuff and a pressure gauge. Cuff is winded around the arm above the heart level, inflating it to a higher pressure than expected. And then cuff is deflated slowly. Brachial artery is being listened over with the use of stethoscope attached to the cuff. A clear tapping sound heard in time with the heart beat is said to be the systolic pressure. The sound becomes quieter as the cuff deflates further, then louder again before it disappear altogether. Diastolic pressure is the point at which the sound disappears. If without a stethoscope, systolic blood pressure can be found by palpating the brachial artery and noting the pressure in the cuff at which it returns.

A Korotkoff sound is sound heard during blood pressure measurement. This sound undergoes 5 phases:

Initial tapping sound (cuff pressure is equal to systolic pressure)
Sounds increase in intensity.
Sounds at maximum intensity
Sounds become muffled
Sounds disappear.

Wrong size of cuff may result to inaccuracies. Cuff size must be appropriate to the arm size of the person. Occasional patients can have a different reading from one arm and different from the other arm.

Ocsillotonometer is the device along both systolic and diastolic blood pressure to be read without stethoscope. This consists of two overlapping cuffs (one large, one small), a large dial made for pressure reading, a bleed valve and a control lever. Large cuff functions same as the sphygmomanometer cuff and the smaller cuff is to amplify pulsations occurring as the large cuff deflates. They are seen as oscillations of the needle on the pressure gauge instead of listening for the Korotkoff sounds. The lever switches the dial between the two cuffs.

Essentially, applying the same principle as the oscillotonometer is the automatic device. This type requires an electricity supply. This machine inflates the cuff to a level assumed to be greater than systolic pressure as the single cuff is applied to the arm. The cuff then gradually deflates. Tiny oscillations in the pressure of the cuff caused by the pulse are then measured by a sensor. When pressure is said to be maximal, systolic is taken as the pulsation starts, diastolic is when the pressure disappears. Automatic device can produce a fairly accurate blood pressure measurement. But such device tends to over-read low blood pressure and under-read high blood pressure. Cuff should be in appropriate size and patient should be still during measurement.