Blood Pressure Cuff
When it comes to the blood pressure monitor or sphygmomanometer as it is referred to by people of the medical profession, the unit itself can be broken down into two parts, this first part is the manometer. While electronic devices and home-use units do not use real mercury for their measurements, they also require calibration from time to time because of it. The other portion of the sphygmomanometer is known as the Riva-Rocci cuff. The word sphygmomanometer itself is broken down in the same manner. Sphygmós which comes from Greek refers to one’s pulse whereas meter comes from manometer or pressure meter. The pressure itself is measured in units of mercury in most cases. While in some places the pascal may be the performed unit of measurement, in general your blood pressure will either be in inches or millimetres of mercury. These are distinguished as either inHg or mmHg. The sphygmomanometer itself was invented by Samuel Siegfried Karl Ritter von Basch, however it was Scipione Riva-Rocci in 1896 who developed the version which is used today. The most important advancement that he made on the sphygmomanometer was that of the blood pressure cuff. For this reason the cuff is known as the Riva-Rocci cuff. The digital blood pressure monitors require calibration from time to time since they do not use any mercury. The type of sphygmomanometer used at a medical clinic uses real mercury and for that reason never needs any form of calibration. These medical use versions are also the gold standard with regards to blood pressure and are used in clinical trials among many other things. Besides the finger blood pressure monitor, the only other blood pressure monitor which does not use the blood pressure cuff is that of the invasive monitor. This invasive monitor is placed directly into a blood vessel using a syringe-like cannulae. Once inside it is able to tell the actual blood pressure with the utmost accuracy.
| Path: IBP: Blood Pressure: Cuff: |
|