20251HC2: Digital BP monitoring device

Last updated on 27 Jul 2025

Brief Description & Functionality

A digital BP monitoring device measures the systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP & DBP in short) using a pressure sensor and displays their values on a digital screen. They are used to identify abnormally high or low blood pressure. Their regular use helps in evaluating current health conditions and early detection of health problems such as heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. The digital version of BP monitoring devices are popular because

they are more user-friendly than the traditional BP monitors
they are affordable for home use
they can store, analyze, and share data through smartphone apps

With each heartbeat, our heart contracts and pumps blood to the arteries, causing them to inflate. Then naturally they deflate to their original state when the heart comes to its normal rest position. A BP monitoring device uses this aortic pressure fluctuation to detect the SBP and DBP. A handcuff is placed over the hand as shown below, and then it is inflated using a manually operated or automatic air pump.

As the cuff pressure slowly increases, it puts pressure on the elastic artery wall. The blood temporarily ceases to flow through the artery when it surpasses the SBP value. The air is slowly released, and consequently the artery inflates. After reaching the SBP value, blood starts to flow, and the flow rate increases with the decrease in cuff pressure. But the pressure exerted on the walls of arteries and veins is oscillatory in nature. This oscillatory pressure fluctuation is captured by the pressure sensor attached to the cuff. After a certain drop in cuff pressure, blood can flow freely through the artery. That specific blood pressure level is termed diastolic blood pressure (DBP). A typical pressure fluctuation curve during BP monitoring is shown below.