Validation of the Finometer device for measurement of blood pressure in black women

Abstract

The improved Finapres apparatus, known as the Finometer, measures finger blood pressure noninvasively on a beat-to-beat basis and gives waveform measurements similar to intra-arterial recordings. The Finometer measures brachial pressure and corrects for finger pressure accordingly. It also corrects for the hydrostatic height of the finger with respect to the heart level. The objective was to validate the Finometer according to the revised British Hypertension Society (BHS) protocol and the criteria of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). We carried out a main validation test using a subject group of 102 black women, which was also divided into smaller groups, namely 24 hypertensives, 25 obese normotensive and 35 lean normotensive women. Finometer and mercury sphygmomanometer blood pressure (BP) measurements were taken early in the morning before breakfast, after the subjects stayed overnight in a research unit. Within the whole subject group, the Finometer satisfied the AAMI criteria for accuracy and achieved an overall A/B grading according to the BHS criteria. The sphygmomanometer measurements were 128 7 20/ 78 7 12 mmHg compared to 130 7 20/78 7 11 mmHg for the Finometer. The average differences between the mercury sphygmomanometer and Finometer readings for systolic and diastolic BP were, respectively, À1.83 7 6.8 and 0.88 7 7.5. Systolic readings of the Finometer device differed by less than 5 mmHg for 64%, by less than 10 mmHg for 86% and differed by less than 15 mmHg for 96% of all readings. A total of 63% of all diastolic readings of the Finometer by less than 5 mmHg, 85% by less than 10 mmHg and 94% of all readings differed by less than 15 mmHg. On the basis of these results, the Finometer device satisfied the validation criteria of AAMI and received an A/B grading according to the BHS protocol. It can therefore be recommended for measurements in the clinical set-up and for research purposes.

Leptin is favourably associated with vascular function in obese Caucasians, but not in obese Africans

“…25,26 Since the pressure waveform is available continuously, computations provide further information on the dynamics of the cardiovascular system, similar to intra-arterial measurements. 24,[27][28][29][30][31] Body mass and height measurements were also taken. These anthropometric measurements were performed according to the standard methods as described by Norton and Olds.…”

Carotid cross-sectional wall area is significantly associated with serum leptin levels, independent of body mass index: the SABPA study

“…If o75% of the ABPM recordings for a particular participant were successful, the measurements were repeated the next day. The validated [18][19][20][21] Finometer device (FMS, Finapres Measurement Systems, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) was connected, and a 5-min continuous measurement of resting cardiovascular parameters was carried out. During the recording, after 2 min, a return-to-flow systolic calibration was performed to provide an individual subject-level adjustment of the finger arterial pressure with the brachial artery pressure.…”

Stretching Exercises Enhance Vascular Endothelial Function and Improve Peripheral Circulation in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

“…SBP, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), stroke volume, and cardiac output were recorded using a finger sphygmomanometer (Finometer, Finapres Medical System BV, Arnhem, The Netherlands). 16) Cardiac output, adjusted for body surface area, was expressed as the cardiac index. Statistical analysis: The Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess statistical differences in variables of autonomic nervous activity, vascular endothelial function, peripheral circulation, arterial stiffness, and cardiovascular responses measured before and after the stretching exercises.…”