subject: New advances in pulse rate measurement today announced by BBC News [print this page] New advances in pulse rate measurement today announced by BBC News
The following publication is a response to the BBC's recent article on new technological advances in the field of blood pressure measurement. The importance of this new method of blood pressure measurement is discussed, and its current and future applications in other areas of popular medicine are addressed.
The BBC News today praised a new technological advance which will allow doctors to measure blood pressure from arterial blood flowing through the aorta.
So what is arterial blood flow, and what makes it so important?
Arterial blood flow refers to the blood which is being pumped straight from your heart, through your arteries. It has a strong pulse and is highly oxygenated (as opposed to deoxygenated vascular blood which is returning back to the heart).
By measuring arterial blood flow from the aorta, doctors will now be able to get a more reliable reading of blood pressuare actually at the site of the heart itself, and by extension, a more accurate picture of a patient's risk of heart disease.
As well as blood pressure readings, arterial blood is also important for obtaining a patient's heart rate and sp02 measurements. Both handheld pulse oximeters and professional-grade fingertip pulse oximeters do this task through their ability to accurately distinguish between arterial blood and other interference (venous blood, fat, bone, muscle and even nail polish). This is made possible by the sensors on the probe looking out for the pulsing rhythm of the arterial blood as it is pumped out from the heart.
For obtaining the sp02 reading, oximeters also have to look for the differences in absorbance levels of red and infrared light, caused by the difference in colour between oxygen-bound (bright red) and oxygen-unbound (dark red or sometimes blue) haemoglobin. The percentage of haemoglobin molecules bound with oxygen molecules is the oxygenation reading - or sp02 measurement. At resting state, a reading at 95% or above indicates a healthy level of lung function (with athletes and sports people also using their oximeters to track and improve their body's performance).
To conclude; new advances which permit more precise measurements of blood pressure to be obtained through the arterial blood flow of the aorta will allow for far more accurate diagnoses of the risk of heart disease and strokes in patients. Some of these arterial blood measuring technologies are already present in some areas of popular medicine, including more advanced oximeters on the market today (currently accurate within 2%) which are commonly used by medical professionals, home users, care homes and sportspeople alike.
As arterial bloodflow measurement technologies continue to advance, this will have a knock-on effect for other technologies, which can only be of benefit to the general health of the population.
