Activity and Summary - Basic Medical Instruments and Techniques

Activity

What’s with all the Pressure?

Students learn how to take blood pressure by observing a teacher demonstration and then practicing on fellow classmates in small groups. Once the hands -on component of this activity is completed, the class brainstorms and discusses how blood pressure might affect a person’s health.

Learning Objectives

1.         Describe the tools used to measure blood pressure.

2.         Measure a persons blood pressure using appropriate equipment.

3.         Describe how blood pressure is measured with a sphygmomanometer, which gives a reading of systolic over diastolic pressure in units of mmHG (millimeters of mercury).

Measuring Blood Pressure Worksheet

1.              Place the blood pressure cuff on the upper arm of the student volunteer “patient” (if clothing is very thick, you may need to ask them to roll up their sleeve). You want the bottom of the cuff to be just above their elbow

2.              Place the stethoscope so that it is between the patient’s skin and the blood pressure cuff. You want to place it just above the elbow, on the inside of the arm-on the inside crook of the arm. This way, it is placed over the brachial artery

3.              Tighten the cuff around the patient’s arm and stethoscope so that is it snug, but not tight.

4.              Make sure the relief valve (the screw knob attached to the bulb of the blood pressure cuff) is completely closed, and press the bulb several times until the dial on the cuff reads 200

5.              While listening through the stethoscope, slowly turn the relief valve so that some air escapes at a slow but steady rate. You should not hear any pulse in the stethoscope yet, and you should note that the needle on the dial is slowly going down.

6.              Continue to release air and listen until you first hear a pulse through the stethoscope. Mentally record the number the needle is on when you first hear the sound. This number is the patient’s systolic pressure.

7.              Continue to release air and listen, this time until the pulse sound goes completely away. The number that the needle is on when the sound stops is the patient’s diastolic pressure.

8.              Record both numbers below. Release any residual air from the cuff, and remove it and the stethoscope from the patient.

Record Results

Student #1

Name                                                                     ...........

Systolic Pressure          

Diastolic Pressure ..........

Summary

Medical instruments help in correct diagnosis and treatment to observing patients, examining organs, making measurements and administering medication. Today’s medical instruments are considerably more complicated and diverse, primarily because they incorporate electronic systems for sensing, transducing, manipulating, storing, and displaying data or information. The modern electronic stethoscope is a high precision instrument used to hear with clarity the internal sounds of the human body even in a noisy environment or through the heavy clothing of the patient. The sphygmomanometer is a device to diagnose pathological conditions such as hypertension and hypotension. A glucometer is a simple and portable medical device used to find out the approximate levels of blood glucose. Autoanalyser is a computer controlled device and used to quick estimation of various bio-chemical substances like glucose, urea, cholesterol, enzymes and other proteins present in body fluids.

Imaging instruments produce diagnostic images and help in the detection of the diseases or defects in an organ at a very early stage, when there are no clinical manifestations or the disease is undetected by the conventional methods of investigations. Then proper therapeutic or surgical measures can be adopted. An EEG is a test to evaluate the electrical activities of the brain. X-Rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation to visualize the internal structures of a patient. Ultrasound waves are used to image the foetus at different stages of pregnancy used to hear foetal heart sound, blood flow, diagnose the damages in heart and diagnosis of tumours, gall stones, kidney stones, and obstructions in the genital tracts.