Ultrasonic investigation of the indirect blood pressure measurement technique

This paper describes a new, non-invasive ultrasonic imaging technique which facilitates investigation of the physiological basis for the indirect blood pressure (b. p.) measurement procedure. The paper details one particular application of the new technique: the measurement of the pressure required to collapse the isolated brachial artery. In a survey of 21 elderly subjects, 13 subjects showed spontaneous closure of the artery when this was isolated from central arterial pressure. The remaining 8 subjects required additional pressures ranging between 40 and 180mmHg in order to force the artery to collapse. The latter subgroup are expected to show falsely elevated b. p. using the indirect measurement process.