CalHealth, an Irvine, CA company, has developed a computer mouse with a slide-out sphygmomanometer. The MDMouse is completely powered via its USB connection, and communicates with software installed on the computer to save regular readings for later analysis. Though initially it seems as a silly product idea, it may effectively increase testing compliance in people who spend a lot of time in front of the computer reading Medgadget. A company spokesman tells us that MDMouse should be coming to market sometime in the next few months.
The pressure of the cuff against the finger inserted into the cuff opening is initially increased until arterial vessel pulsation is beyond cutoff (total occlusion or shutdown of the artery). The cuff pressure is then slowly decreased until the first detection of arterial vessel pulsation occurs (the first pumping of the heart also commonly known as Korotkoff Phase I). The corresponding cuff pressure at this point will be substantially equal to systolic blood pressure which is the pressure when the heart is pumping.
As cuff pressure continues to be decreased, arterial vessel pulsations will eventually become undetectable through the cuff because of the lack of adequate cuff pressure to sense those pulsations (commonly known as Korotkoff Phase V). The pressure of the cuff at this point will be substantially equal to diastolic blood pressure – the pressure when the heart is at rest. The frequency of pulsations sensed between the systolic and diastolic pressures is measured and is substantially equal to the heartbeat rate or pulse rate of the individual. These two cuff pressures and the pulsation frequency are measured and captured by the MDMouse application software.
The application software installed on the user’s PC then utilizes the digital data to create a display of the individual’s blood pressure readings and pulse rate. The software also provides additional functions including recording the data and graphically plotting data over a number of parameters such as three day averages. Communication of the data is also handled by the application software, including sending emails to medical personnel or archiving data.
Product page: MDMouse …