Summary
A pressure transducer with a disposable, presterilized fluid chamber was developed to increase the safety margin when recording cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure. With this system the fluid compartment is completely separated from the transducer proper, reducing electrical hazard and the risk of infection. The operational range is form — 20 mm Hg to 300 mm Hg with good static accuracy. The transducer with stopcocks has a flat frequency response of up to 75 Hz, showing that the two-part principle is compatible with good dynamic performance.
The transducer system was easy to handle and well suited to the recording of ventricular fluid pressure, detection of spinal subarachnoid block, the investigation of CSF absorptive capacity, as well as blood pressure recording. When the transducer was connected to standard disposable stopcocks, needles, and tubing as for these recordings, the dynamic accuracy of the whole apparatus was satisfactory for analysis of the pulsatile wave-form. A total of 185 CSF pressure recordings was performed without complication.
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Nornes, H., Magnæs, B. Safety and accuracy in the clinical recording of cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Acta neurochir 29, 41–51 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01414615
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01414615