Different types of assessing blood pressure

It has long been understood that high blood pressure is a risk factor for stroke. Now there is a new report that high blood pressure even when you're younger increases the risk of stroke decades later.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE is a serious condition. Yet both doctors and patients often don't treat it as such. Here's what you need to know. Blood pressure is nothing but the force of blood travels through your arteries. High blood pressure indicates that the force of blood travelling is increased tremendously causing damage to the arterial walls.

The early diagnosis of blood pressure is very important for the health of the patients. The blood pressure is measured by different tests. There are many different blood pressure monitors available, which can be bought at chemists or directly from manufacturers.

Blood pressure is normally measured from the upper part of your arm. Normally the digital BP monitors have been used commonly by the individuals in their home, which resembles the mercury sphygmomanometers (pronounced sphig-mom-an-om-eters) that your health professional may use.

Other common devices/tests used to assess the blood pressure are as follows:-

• Metabolic test blood pressure
• Motion tolerant blood pressure monitor
• Noise tolerant blood pressure
• EMS blood pressure
• Pulmonary Function tests

Metabolic test for blood pressure
Metabolic test blood pressure is mainly performed by studying the blood chemistry. By referring the blood values with the normal values, the blood pressure can be predicted by this method.

Procedure
From the vein in the inside of elbow or the back of the hand, the blood is drawn. The site of introduction of needle should be cleaned with antiseptics and a cuff is wrapped in the upper arm to apply pressure. The vein is engorged and is easily appreciated.

A sterile needle is used to puncture the vein and the blood is collected. During collection, the band should be loosened for easy access of the blood. After collecting the blood the puncture site is covered with cotton for sometime to stop bleeding. In Infants, if continuous bleeding is notice in the puncture site, a bandage may be applied on the site.

The collected blood is subjected to different tests for assessing the blood chemistry. Apart from this, the blood values give the levels of a number chemical substances secreted by the different parts/tissues of the body. Any deviation in the values clearly implies the abnormalities in the Blood pressure also.

Motion tolerant Blood Pressure monitor
This is a special device used to study the blood pressure. This device won't get affected if it has been moved extensively. This device is simple, easy to use. This is accurate and there is a PC user interface.

The motion tolerant blood pressure monitor includes a graphic user interface. The mainpurpose of this interface is that for easy verification with that of the automated BP values. The records obtained from the motion tolerant blood pressure monitor can easily be transmitted to a fax, a remote data center and to a PC.

The motion tolerant blood pressure monitor has been extensively used by cardiologists, 24 hour ambulatory monitoring, airplanes, ambulances, helicopters, etc., This finds it place in military medics in battle fields and rescue operations. This has been extensively used in Katrina Hurricane also.

The motion tolerant blood pressure monitor helps in accurate diagnosing of high-risk high blood pressure and heart disease sufferers. This holds good in saving time for critical rescue actions by emergent diagnosis in critically ill patients.

Noise Tolerant Blood Pressure Monitor
The noise tolerant blood pressure monitor eliminates those risks associated with invasive monitoring to the patient and caregiver. There is no need for cuff and catheter in these monitors. The disadvantages of using cuffs for measuring BP are placement problems, can't perform rapid readings, and patients discomfort. In the catheter model, it is high in cost and reliability is questionable.

A non-invasive sensor is placed in the wrist of the patient in the distal edge of the radius by covering the radial artery. The position allows the sensor to monitor the amplitude of the radial pulse. Analysis of the shape, form, and other characteristics help the doctor to diagnose the condition without any fuss.

There is special software called High Motion Tolerant (HMT) in this monitor for noise cancellation, which helps the user to sieve out the noise. The HMT should be off once you switch on the monitor.

Pros and cons of noise tolerant blood pressure monitors

Pros

• High accuracy
• Ready to withstand noisy and vibration intense environments such as ambulance, naval vessels, airplanes, helicopters, etc.,
• Lessens the time for measuring blood pressure
• No mercury pollution thereby eliminating errors in the BP value
• Effective for accurate monitoring of pulmonary functions and high-risk high Blood pressure and heart disease
• Helps to get full pressure data without undue stress on the patients

Cons

• High cost
• Requires specialist to intrepret results

CAS 740 EMS blood pressure monitor
This monitor is devised with emergency medical responders in mind. This is a rugged, lightweight and portable apparatus, which finds it use in most of the ambulatory unit, ICU and surgical recovery room.

This EMS blood pressure monitor finds it role in infants and adults in the most challenging conditions. This also gives very good accurate reading either you are maintaining this device in a moving vehicle or a noisy environment.

When the CAS 740 EMS blood pressure monitor is coupled with Masimo SET® pulse oximetry, it is found to be a perfect match for monitoring during low perfusion and motion.

Pulmonary function tests
Pulmonary Function tests are usually performed to assess the functional status of the lung. Analysis of the lung status indirectly gives the picture of the blood pressure. Spirometer is the instrument used to analyse the changes in volume. A devise called spirograph is attached to spirometer to measure the movement of gas in and out of the chest.

Sometimes the spirograph is replaced by a printer like unit to get recorded results. The recorded results are called spirogram. By seeing the spirograms, the pulmonary function can easily be assessed. This inturn helps to find out the blood pressure.