ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF BIOMEDICAL-ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY TO THE UNDERSTANDING AND THE MANAGEMENT OF ARTERIAL-HYPERTENSION

There are several reasons why arterial blood pressure, i.e. the pressu re within the large arterial vessels, is, out of the physical paramete rs of the human body, one of the most frequently measured. Firstly, ar terial blood pressure is a physiologically meaningful parameter, since it represents the driving pressure generated by the heart which maint ains blood perfusion in the periphery. Secondly, it is a clinically im portant parameter: a decline of arterial blood pressure (e.g. in shock ) may represent a life-threatening emergency which requires prompt rec ognition and correction; elevated blood pressure (hypertension) on the other hand is a very common condition, which bears a high risk of car diovascular mortality and morbidity and can be contracted with appropr iate pharmacological means. Thirdly, but not lastly, arterial blood pr essure is easily measurable with a fair degree of accuracy by the stan dard manual sphygmomanometric method and, mwe recently, by non-invasiv e automatic techniques. This paper discusses some of the aspects relat ed to arterial blood pressure measurement, in which, in the author's o pinion, medical engineering and technology are expected to provide use ful advancements. Two major areas will be considered. The first regard s the methodologies for arterial blood pressure assessment; the second the identification and acquisition of information additional to blood pressure which would be helpful fm a better understanding of blood pr essure measurements and/or of risk profiling. For the purpose of this brief paper, we shall mainly use examples and reasonings from our own experience.