Computerized automatic non-invasive blood pressure monitoring system

A non-invasive, fully automatic blood pressure monitoring system was developed to make the diagnosis of hypertension more accurate and to help individualizing antihypertensive therapy. The system consists of two subunits: the automatic microprocessor-controlled blood pressure monitor (Nippon Colin Co. BP 203) and a microcomputer system (Commodore 64). The blood pressure monitor is fitted to the computer by our own interface and data transfer programme. Data-analysing, graphic displaying and plotting programmes were also developed by us. Circadian average blood pressure, its variability, the rhythm variabilities of chronobiological cosinor analysis: mesor, amplitude, acrophase and linear trend, have been calculated by means of these programmes. Results of blood pressure monitoring are demonstrated in a patient with essential hypertension and in a patient with renoparenchymal hypertension. The perspectives of this method in biomedical research and in clinical pharmacology are illustrated and discussed.