Types of tonometers

Recently, while standing in the chemist's queue, I happened to witness a very remarkable conversation between an indignant buyer and a pharmacist. A stumbling block was the tonometer bought a few days ago. The buyer was indignant. He loudly, to hear all the people standing next to him, claimed that the device he purchased completely incorrectly measures blood pressure. As an argument, comparisons of measurements made at home by a purchased expensive instrument and some analogue of Soviet times were cited. The pharmacist, unwilling to enter into a debate and spend time explaining what types of tonometers exist, simply returned the cost of the goods to the person and the incident was resolved. There is no doubt that such a case is not the only one. Is the old mechanical tonometer better than modern electronic models? Of course not! The thing is that when choosing a device for measuring pressure, one can not rely only on its cost, the reputation of the manufacturer, or, even worse, the advice of an elderly neighbor, whom someone also advised ... Although all the types of tonometers on the market have been created For a single purpose - to measure pressure, they are not completely interchangeable. For example, a person with arrhythmia is recommended to pay attention to special models - only in this case the accuracy of the measurements will be appropriate.

Different types of tonometers - for different cases, taking into account the nuances. Therefore, it is so important not to buy the first one you liked, but to consult a pharmacist in the pharmacy or, better still, with a therapist in a polyclinic. We'll tell you about what kind of tonometers exist and how they differ from each other.

The simplest are mechanical ones. In the Soviet era (and now in some clinics), it was these models that were used. Such a tonometer includes a cuff that is worn on the arm; A pear with adjustable valve for venting; Phonendoscope for listening and a dial gauge. In many models the phonendoscope is part of the whole device, and not an independent element. The pressure sensor can be a membrane sensor and a mercury sensor. More affordable for the model with membranes, but their accuracy is lower than that of mercury. Only a dozen years ago, the proposed types of tonometers were exhausted. Now the situation has changed. Now there is always an automatic tonometer on pharmacy windows, and buyers have an opportunity to choose.

The cost of such models is one of the highest, but they provide the most accurate measurement of pressure. Listening to blows or not to put on cuffs is simply impossible. Includes a cuff and a block with a liquid crystal display. It is enough to put on the cuffs and press the button: the device automatically pumps the air and performs the pulse and pressure measurements. The memory function allows you to "remember" the previous results and compare them with the current ones, thereby performing monitoring - very useful when taking pressure normalizing drugs.

Realizing that a high price can scare off potential buyers, manufacturers compromised and offered a whole class of similar devices called semi-automatic. They combined a digital block of automatic models and a manual control of the pump pressure. Currently, buyers prefer this kind of model. To use a semi-automatic tonometer, a person does not need to understand all the subtleties of mechanical models. Also, you can save without overpaying for the additional functions of "machines", which are not necessary for everyone.