A New Endpoint for Blood Pressure Determination in the Rat's Tail.

Abstract

A new endpoint for the indirect measurement of systolic blood pressure in the caudal artery of the rat is described. The pressure in an inflated cuff at the base of the rat''s tail is elevated above the expected blood pressure and allowed to drop slowly. When the cuff pressure reaches the systolic arterial pressure, blood flows into the rat''s tail, increasing its vol. This change is vol. in mechanically transferred to develop pressure on a C telephone transmitter button. The resulting decrease in electrical resistance is measured with a wheatstone bridge circuit and is the endpoint for the blood pressure measurement. The method gives results which compare favorably with other endpoints.