Evaluation of the Suntech Accutracker: A Novel Noninvasive Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor

Abstract

The "Accutracker," a novel ambulatory blood pressure monitor based on auscultation triggered by the electrocardiographic R wave, was evaluated by comparing its blood pressure readings with those obtained by direct auscultation. Simultaneous measurements were made (in 24 volunteers, by 4 trained observers) using a Y connector so that the Accutracker and a mercury sphygmomanometer were in parallel. Average blood pressure by direct auscultation (215 readings) was 129.1 +/- 12.0/77.8 +/- 14.4, and by Accutracker was 130.9 +/- 13.0/75.9 +/- 14.5 mm Hg (P less than 0.01). The Accutracker overestimated systolic blood pressure by 1.7 +/- 5.8 and underestimated diastolic blood pressure by 1.9 +/- 7.6 mm Hg. The average difference between pairs of readings was 5.0 mm Hg for systolic and 5.5 mm Hg for diastolic pressure. These data indicate that the concordance of blood pressure readings recorded by Accutracker and direct auscultation is sufficient to justify its use in noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.