Kate presented on “Unravelling the mechanics of cuff- based blood pressure measurement”:
Cuff-based devices have been in use for over 100 years and are ubiquitous in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and homes. However, cuff measurement is inaccurate, underestimating the systolic pressure by an average of 6 mmHg. This error results in almost a third of patients with systolic hypertension going undiagnosed.
Our novel experimental rig is the first to successfully reproduce the underestimation of systolic pressure and identify its cause. Based on these results, we have developed a physics-based model, which provides the first explanation for underestimation of systolic blood pressure. We intend to use this new understanding of the physics behind cuff-based measurement to drive advances in measurement accuracy.
As well as presenting this work, Kate chaired a Biological Fluid Mechanics session, which included talks on using CFD to planning nasal surgery and optimisation of high frequency mechanical ventilation.
