The effect of occlusion with the cuff

Abstract

The widely used non-invasive blood pressure measurement methods occlude the brachial artery with a cuff. The occlusion modifies the blood flow and affects the systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The paper presents the results of measurements taken from patients with cardiovascular diseases and from healthy senior and young persons. Changes in pulse wave transit time (PWTT) were found to be applicable to characterize the effect of occlusion. PWTT was cut into two parts: PWTTHC from the heart to the cuff and PWTTCF from the cuff to the fingertip. The occlusion affected PWTTHC and PWTTCF differently: increased the former and decreased the latter. Increased PWTTHC reflects a less rigid arterial wall resulting in an underestimation of blood pressure using the cuff-based measurement method.