Systolic arterial pressure determination by a new pulse monitor technique.

The Doppler ultrasound (DUS) technique is a widely accepted non-invasive technique to estimate systolic blood pressure (SBP) accurately in paediatric patients. The DUS has a number of limitations. A new pulse monitor, Mr Pulse (MP), operating on the principle of a finger plethysmograph, was developed to offer an alternative technique to estimate SBP. From 104 paired SBP measurements taken in 16 paediatric patients undergoing general anaesthesia, SBP determined by the MP technique correlated closely with that by the standard DUS technique (r2 = 0.98). Analysis of degree of agreement performed indicated that there was good agreement between SBP obtained by the MP and the DUS techniques. The mean +/- standard deviation of differences in paired SBP values between the two measurement techniques was 0.55 +/- 3.59 mmHg. Mr Pulse is as accurate as the DUS technique in estimating SBP and has the advantage of less critical sensor positioning as it is not subject to electrical interference. It has no electrical hazard.