by Wang Yuechun

Measurement of
arterial blood pressure
Aim:
To understand the principle of indirect measurement
of blood pressure (To measure arterial blood
pressure in human body with the auscultatory
method.)
To measure the systolic and diastolic pressures of
brachial artery.
Subject: human
Equipments:
stethoscope
sphygmomanometer (blood pressure gauge)

A few definitions
Blood Pressure- measurement of the force

exerted by blood against the walls of the

arteries
Systolic blood pressure- the pressure in the
large arteries when the heart is contracted
Diastolic Blood pressure- the pressure in
the large arteries when the heart is relaxed

More definitions
Hypertension- PERSISTENT elevation of

either diastolic or systolic blood pressure

Essential (primary) hypertension- high blood
pressure with no identifiable cause
Secondary hypertension- high blood
pressure with a known cause

HES Workshop, Luxembourg, 9

11 April 2008

Measurement devices

Aneroid
sphygmomanometer

Simple mercury
sphygmomanometer

Automated bp device

An aneroid
Sphygmoma
-nometer

by Wang Yuechun

Procedure and observation

1.The structure of a sphygmomanometer.

Pressure/mmH
g

The sphygmomanometer detects arterial opening and closing that occurs

between systolic and diastolic pressures.

by Wang Yuechun

Method (indirect)

by Wang Yuechun

The method of measuring

arterial blood pressure
1) A stethoscope is placed over the brachial

artery in the elbow, while a pressure cuff is

inflated around the upper arm and
connected to a manometer

c u ff

o c c lu d e d
b lo o d v e s s e l

The pressure of the cuff occludes the blood vessel.

When the arterial pressure is greater than the pressure applied by the cuff,
Korotkoff sounds are created and blood pressure can be measured.

by Wang Yuechun

2) Just as soon as the pressure in the cuff

falls below systolic pressure level,sounds
can be heard as blood slipping through the
very narrow artery, and this pressure level
indicated by the mamometer approximately
equals to the systolic pressure.

by Wang Yuechun

3) When the pressure in the cuff falls to

equal to diastolic pressure, the sounds
suddenly change to a muffled quality, and
this pressure level indicated by the
manometer equals to the diastolic pressure

by Wang Yuechun

Results
The blood pressure of students in group X (mmHg)
Name

Sex

age

systolic blood pressure

diastolic blood pressure

by Wang Yuechun

Discussion questions

Steps for Measuring

Blood Pressure

Seated for 5 minutes

Expose Upper arm
Center of upper arm at heart level
Cuff applied 1 inch above crease at elbow
Locate brachial artery
Palpate radial pulse
Inflate cuff until pulse disappears

Steps for measuring cont.

Let air out
Place stethoscope on brachial artery
Pump up cuff to 20-30 above point of

obliteration
Let air out at 2 mmHg per second
millimetre s of mercury