Finger Pulsometer Detects Aortic Stiffness
December 3, 2013 | Terry Sharrer
This piece does not report a new way of taking blood pressure during sleep (when BP is lowest), but it does suggest that. A physiologist at the University of Iowa has developed and tested a simple means for monitoring aortic pulse wave velocity using a finger pulsometer and a small transducer located near the elbow where the brachial artery branches. The velocity of blood flow between the two points, when combined with body mass index and age data, can indicate aortic stiffness (a risk for heart disease). But this device also approximates a sphygmomanometer reading and could be done passively. MORE