Ambulatory blood pressure monitor and 'analyzer'

Earlier, we described the format provided by an ambulatory blood pressure monitor, the ABPM-630 with a data handler (AA-200), manufactured by Colin Medical Instruments. A detailed procedure for data transfer from the memory cassette into the analyzer and into an IBM PC in a format compatible with programs in the Chronobiology Laboratories is provided with a brief description of the hardware used. Among several instruments available for ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate monitoring, the ABPM-630 has several advantages: it does not require electrodes (a merit it shares with other instruments); it is portable, even if there are smaller ones; it functions silently, being activated by a CO2 cartridge; and it provides data obtained by two methods, by auscultation and by oscillometry, in part as a backup for one another, depending on whether auditory or movement noise are within limits acceptable to the instrumentation. This feature renders it more likely that some record will be obtained. In our earlier publication, we had referred to and then briefly described a special program which converts the format of the data handler into a format acceptable for analyses with programs from the University of Minnesota Chronobiology Laboratories. Herein, the operation of transferring data from the ABPM-630 memory cassette to an IBM-compatible personal computer (PC) is described, with an indication further of the programs used in the Chronobiology Laboratories.