The Columbus Instruments’ Non-Invasive Blood Pressure (NIBP) Monitor can monitor systolic, diastolic, mean blood pressure, as well as heart rate with 7% accuracy in one to eight rats or mice. The NIBP consistently tracks the changes of systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure measured non-invasively and utilizes two separate cuffs. The first, positioned closely to the tail base, is used for arterial occlusion and the second, positioned down from the first cuff, is used to sense arterial pulsation. The user can schedule timing of measurements for each animal. It takes 16 seconds to complete the blood pressure measurement cycle for an animal. Subsequent measurements can be set 30 seconds apart.
The NIBP is fully automatic and results are presented on the screen and can be printed and/or saved to a file as the numerical values pressure in mmHg, as well as graphical pictures of the signal from the pulsation sensor and a graph of ascending and descending pressure in the occlusion sensor. After completion of the measurment, the user has the option to review the results by displaying signals from both cuffs and make a decision to accept or reject the measurement.