COMPUTERIZED BLOOD-PRESSURE AND HEART-RATE RECORDING-SYSTEM INTERFACES STANDARD CHART RECORDER WITH ANY MICROCOMPUTER

The designed inexpensive blood pressure recording system (BPRS) gives any microcomputer direct on-line blood pressure and heart rate recording capability that will save research time and increase the accuracy of collected data. The data is automatically stored in a file compatible with most graphic and statistical processing software. In vitro testing, over a range of 0-200 mmHg and 0-360 beats per minute showed a 0.999 intraclass correlation. In vivo testing of the BPRS used anesthetized rats whereby their systolic and diastolic pressures were measured simultaneously with heart rate. The blood pressures and heart rate data, measured by the BPRS demonstrated excellent stability, sensitivity and accuracy when compared to those measured by standard pressure transducers in conjunction with a Grass polygraph and a sphygmomanometer.