Blood pressure revolution
22 Feb 2011 by Evoluted New Media
The way your doctor takes your blood pressure could change thanks to ground-breaking technology that stands to revolutionise blood pressure measurement for the first time in a century
The way your doctor takes your blood pressure could change thanks to ground-breaking technology that stands to revolutionise blood pressure measurement for the first time in a century
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Scientists have come up with a new way of measuring blood pressure for the first time in a century |
The set-up is similar – you’ll still have the cuff strapped around your upper arm but there is a second wrist strap that measures the pulse wave. These are attached to a monitor which uses a mathematical model to calculate the central aortic pressure – the pressure in the large arteries closer to the heart and brain.
“I am under no illusion about the magnitude of the change this technique will bring about,” said Professor Bryan Williams from the University of Leicester. “It has been a fabulous scientific adventure to get to this point and it will change the way blood pressure have been monitored for more than a century.”
The technology is a joint venture between the university and Singapore-based medical device company HealthSTATS International. Their study reports central aortic systolic pressure (CASP) can be measured non-invasively with an accuracy of 99% when compared to the pressure measured by inserting a catheter directly into the aorta close to the heart.
Measuring the blood pressure in the aorta is important – it is lower that the corresponding pressure on the arm. CASP is the true pressure the heart, brain and other major organ actually sees and is likely to be a better indicator of pressure that could be damaging if too high.
“The beauty of all this, is that it is difficult to argue against the proposition that the pressure near to your heart and brain is likely to be more relevant to your risk of stroke and heart disease than the pressure in your arm,” Williams said. “It is not going to replace what we do overnight but it is a big advance.”
Williams added that further work on the technology – which HealthSTATS have already embedded into a range of blood pressure measurement devices – will define whether such measurements are preferred for everyone, or if there is a more defined role in selective cases.
