Blood Pressure Monitor is common home medical equipment. The word comes from the Greek sphygmós. It is a device used to measure blood pressure. It comprises an inflatable cuff and a mercury or mechanical manometer. The inflatable cuff is used to restrict blood flow and the mercury to measure the pressure. It is always used in conjunction to determine at what pressure blood flow is just starting, and at what pressure it is unimpeded. Manual sphygmomanometers are used in conjunction with a stethoscope.

In humans, normally the cuff is placed smoothly and snugly around an upper arm. Other sites of placement depend on species, and may include the tongue, flipper, tail or teat. The correct size of cuff selected for the patient is essential. If a cuff is too small, the results will be too high a pressure, otherwise, if too large, will be too low pressure. The cuff is inflated until the artery is completely occluded. Listening with a stethoscope to the brachial artery at the elbow, the examiner slowly releases the pressure in the cuff.

The pressure at which this sound began is noted and recorded as the systolic blood pressure. The cuff pressure is further released until the sound can no longer be heard. This is recorded as the diastolic blood pressure. In noisy environments where auscultation is impossible, systolic blood pressure alone may be read by releasing the pressure until a radial pulse is palpated. In veterinary medicine, auscultation is rarely of use, and palpation or visualization of pulse distal to the sphygmomanometer is used to detect systolic pressure.

There are three types of Blood Pressure Monitor:

1, Digital with manual or automatic inflation. They are electronic, easy to operate, and practical in noisy environments.

2, Digital portable finger blood pressure monitors with automatic inflation. These are more portable and easy to operate, although less accurate.

3, Manual