There are so many different ambulatory blood pressure monitors. But how to select the right one?

There is a constantly increasing number of innovative cardiovascular instruments on the global medical market. Today, many of these are developed and manufactured under the supervision of a well known and competitive brand owner, most of them reachable within a few clicks and length of a wire transfer, independently from genuine place of their origin.

Whether you are looking for a research instrument or a useful tool in establishing accurate diagnosis or adjusting anti-hypertensive therapy, picking the right one from the wide  range of ambulatory blood pressure monitors can improve the quality of work and care, while adding value to a practice.

Today, there are two techniques for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM): the commonly used method of intermittent measurement of blood pressure over the 24-hour period, and the developing method of continuous waveform analysis. There are two methods for ABP measurement: oscillometric (automatic) and manual auscultatory.

While it is almost obvious that your choice should involve the first method and your monitoring device shall incorporate oscillometric measurement method, there are still a few essentials to be considered while selecting from the wide range of ambulatory blood pressure monitors:

1. Accuracy

2. Features and software

3. Technical parameters & measurement range

4. Comfort

5. Price

6. Guarantees & service

For more technical information, please check under ABPM-05. 

Accuracy

The first thing to consider while purchasing ambulatory blood pressure monitors is to inquire for it's independent validation and/or international recommendations. Two most widely used validation protocols (here: link to Independent validation and international references) are: standards set by the US Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI, published in 1987.) and the validation protocol issued by British Hypertension Society (BHS, in 1990.) The Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) additionally published a list of recommended blood pressure monitors (British Medical Journal, year 2001), where standards and devices were assessed on the published evidence of validation according to BHS and AAMI protocols. With a promise that the list of recommended ambulatory blood pressure monitors will be updated regularly, today this is still the most reliable guide for future buyers additionally to the list published by British Hypertension Society.

Features and ABPM software

Comprehensive blood pressure monitoring involves different, often incomparable features, that will allow efficient and accurate identification of hypertensive profile in patient or meet the unique requirements of research protocols.