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Numerical analysis of stress distribution in the upper arm tissues under an inflatable cuff: Implications for noninvasive blood pressure measurement

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Abstract

An inflatable cuff wrapped around the upper arm is widely used in noninvasive blood pressure measurement. However, the mechanical interaction between cuff and arm tissues, a factor that potentially affects the accuracy of noninvasive blood pressure measurement, remains rarely addressed. In the present study, finite element (FE) models were constructed to quantify intra-arm stresses generated by cuff compression, aiming to provide some theoretical evidence for identifying factors of importance for blood pressure measurement or explaining clinical observations. Obtained results showed that the simulated tissue stresses were highly sensitive to the distribution of cuff pressure on the arm surface and the contact condition between muscle and bone. In contrast, the magnitude of cuff pressure and small variations in elastic properties of arm soft tissues had little influence on the efficiency of pressure transmission in arm tissues. In particular, it was found that a thickened subcutaneous fat layer in obese subjects significantly reduced the effective pressure transmitted to the brachial artery, which may explain why blood pressure overestimation occurs more frequently in obese subjects in noninvasive blood pressure measurement.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 81370438) and the SJTU Medical-Engineering Cross-cutting Research Project (Grant YG2015MS53). Zhipeng Deng was supported by the Hui-Chun Chin and Tsung-Dao Lee Chinese Undergraduate Research Program Endowment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhipeng Deng & Fuyou Liang

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Ship and Deep-Sea Exploration (CISSE), Shanghai, 200240, China

    Fuyou Liang

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  1. Zhipeng Deng
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  2. Fuyou Liang
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Correspondence to Fuyou Liang.

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Deng, Z., Liang, F. Numerical analysis of stress distribution in the upper arm tissues under an inflatable cuff: Implications for noninvasive blood pressure measurement. Acta Mech. Sin. 32, 959–969 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-016-0587-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-016-0587-x

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