BP Basics

Blood Pressure Measuring Machines

There are a number of technologically advanced gadgets available to measure blood pressure. One of the oldest instruments to measure blood pressure is the humble sphygmomanometer.

In spite of the number of advanced instruments, it is a very interesting fact that the sphygmomanometer is still  the instrument of choice for measuring blood pressure amongst most doctors throughout the world today.

With the advent of technology, measuring of blood pressure has become significantly easy. There are machines that record your blood pressure automatically without any trouble. 

It has  been generally seen that the wrist monitors don't provide as accurate blood pressure reading as arm monitors. Today, in fact, the blood measuring instruments have become so sophisticated that you can use the memory of these machines to analyze and store your blood pressure fluctuations.

Some of them can retain approximately  fifteen readings in their memory. This functionality provides a lot of flexibility and is very convenient to measure blood pressure in different circumstances.

Let us evaluate  two types of commonly used blood pressure measuring instruments:

The Manual Sphygmomanometer
This machine is mostly used by  doctors or nurses to check  blood pressure. It has two versions one is called the mechanical and the other is called the manometer. In the mechanical version, you need the help of a stethoscope to check the beep of the blood in your arteries, while in the manometer you have to see the beep of mercury fluctuation in the glass rod with mercury levels. These types of machines require expert handling.

The Digital sphygmomanometer
This is the modern updated version of the sphygmomanometer. This machine  automatically measures your blood pressure. All you have to do is to wear the cuffs  as per the instructions. Tighten them around your wrist or arm. The  sensors  automatically detect the systole  and diastole   readings. You can keep the recorded blood pressure readings in the memory of the blood pressure instrument for comparative analysis of blood pressure.