Blood pressure is one of the most important parameters monitored in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. Two possibilities of automatic blood pressure monitoring are at hand in contemporary practice: intermittent measurements obtained via an oscillometric cuff or continuous monitoring based on arterial catheterisation.
In recent years novel technologies have been developed enabling continuous non-invasive monitoring of blood pressure. This review article describes the two most developed of these technologies: the volume clamp method and appalanation tonometry.
Devices based on these principles might in near future help to significantly improve patients' safety and quality of care.