Do the volume-oscillometric and volume-compensation methods accurately measure arterial blood pressure compared to direct measurements?
The reviewed non-invasive blood pressure measurement methods (volume-oscillometric and volume-compensation) show promise for accurate continuous and ambulatory monitoring.
Two new types of non-invasive method for measuring arterial blood pressure recently developed by us are reviewed. Both of the methods are based on the characteristics of the pressure-volume relationship in the artery. One is the volume-oscillometric method; and the other is the volume-compensation method, based on the vascular unloading principle. Both methods employ photoelectric plethysmography for detection of arterial volume changes in the biological segment. The volume-oscillometric method can measure systolic and mean arterial pressure, and is applicable to long-term ambulatory monitoring. The volume-compensation method allows the beat-by-beat measurement of systolic and diastolic pressure and the recording of the pressure waveform continuously and non-invasively. This paper discusses the measurement principle and evaluates the accuracy of each method as compared with direct measurements. Preliminary descriptions of newly designed instruments based on these two methods, and a few examples of the indirect pressure recordings, are also described. The results obtained show that the non-invasive methods for measuring arterial pressure presented here appear promising for use not only in physiological studies, but also in clinical practice and research laboratories.
Yamakoshi et al. (1988) studied this question.