EBME Forums Forums Management Medical Equipment Management Blood pressure monitors

I'd appreciate some feedback from everyone concerning the use of automatic NIBP monitors within ward and clinical areas. The type of monitor I am concerned about is the sub £75 models from Omron, A&D etc. My understanding is that they are for home use only.

We won't use them for general ward use, but our community nurses use them.
I don't think they are robust enough for heavy use. They tend to be more sensitive to movement, which may mean multiple cuff inflations to get a reading. You will be called to change batteries.

I've got one for home use. Fine.

I wouldn't use one on a ward.

Stick with something designed for that purpose.

Hi John You are right these devices are really for use by " Fit People " ie after the Gym Session or Run they are unreliable on Patients and also as you say there is also the battery problem Tony

From conversations with the MDA it seems that some of these monitors are CE marked but not to the Medical Device Directive, therefore caution should be employed before purchasing ensuring that a PPQ is requested and received showing that they comply with the regulations. Another ploy that these companies use is that they claim these monitors are Class 1 devices under the MDD risk category and self certify the CE mark, but the MDD states that any Class 1 device which performs a measuring function or is supplied sterile must be assessed by a notified body and approved before a CE mark is applied.

We don't use them in the hospital as they apper to be for use for fit people between the ages of 16 and 60, which precludes the majority of people in the hospital, including technicians

If you go to the web site of the British Hypertensive Society, you will find a lot of information on automatic BP Machines (www.hyp.ac.uk).
The evidence is now a few years old now but there are links to other web sites.
After reading this info you might think twice about which BP machines you are buying! !

I was told many years ago that a major difference between a "hospital grade" NIBP & a cheap one was that hospital grade units ran far more sophisticated software.
The pocket units would measure Mean pressure then extrapolate using the rate of pressure change to estimate Sys & Dia. "Proper" units such as Dinamaps electronicaly measured all 3 readings. Critikon manuals seem to bear this out (at least for Critikon products).
Funnily enough at a recent training day I was informed by a Critikon trained trainer that in fact the Critikon units ALSO use a single measurement & lookup table. Strange!
Does anyone know any more on this alleged difference?

Marc

Have you guys tried approaching Geoff Smith at the MDA, I believe he is the person responsible for NIBP measurements