Measuring blood pressure

Abstract

"F or over 100 years, the dominant method of blood pressure measurement in the clinic was the use of a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. The “gold standard” mercury-filled sphygmomanometer was so ingrained in medical practice that its unit of measurement, millimetres of mercury (mm Hg), was one of relatively few in medicine that withstood the conversion to the International System of Units. Since the advent of clinical testing protocols about 20 years ago, automated blood pressure measuring devices have become more reliably accurate and common. Automated devices for measuring blood pressure are now found in pharmacies, peoples’ homes and doctors’ offices."