Foil electret transducer for blood pressure monitoring

J. E. West, I. J. Busch-Vishniac, G. A. Marshfield, T. G. Pickerina

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

A foil electret microphone for use under the cuff of an automatic blood pressure monitoring - system is described. The transducer is designed to operate with relatively flat sensitivity over a static pressure range of 40 to 250 mm Hg (5.33 X104to 3.33 X 10sdyn/cm2). The new electret microphone differs from conventional microphones used for airborne sound reception in two ways: (1) the diaphragm thickness is 50 fitn rather than the typical 12.5 or 25 fim, and (2) the backplate contains a set of annular ridges spaced at 4 mm rather than the typical 7–10 mm. This microphone offers three advantages over the piezoelectric microphone now in use: (1) greater tolerance'in positioning the microphone over the brachial artery, (2) nearly 20-dB higher sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio, and (3) the ability to obtain measurements with the. microphone placed midway between the elbow and shoulder, Tests of the new foil electret microphone in conjunction with the automatic blood pressure monitoring system indicate that the automatic and conventional measurements of systolic and diastolic blood pressure agree to within 5 mm Hg at least 90% of the time. In addition, the electret microphone is able to obtain automatic measurements on subjects with a wider range of ages and sizes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)680-686
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume74
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1983
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Acoustics and Ultrasonics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Foil electret transducer for blood pressure monitoring'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this