Inexpensive and Accurate Blood Pressure Monitor

I became interested in acquiring a home blood pressure monitor recently and wanted to get a unit that is easy to use and accurate without having to pay too much for it. As a life-long weightlifter, I have had a fair share of false high readings through the years due to equipment issues. When the doctor fails to use a pressure cuff large enough to accommodate my considerably larger than average biceps and triceps, I will invariably get a false high reading. I have observed as well that automated blood pressure machines tend to give me relatively consistent readings, quite comparable to those produced with properly sized pressure cuffs at the doctor's office.

After some research (mostly on epinion as well as a few other related sites), I decided on the Omron HEM-650 and purchased one via eBay.

Features and Usage:
The HEM-650 is a wrist blood pressure cuff and thus completely eliminates my concern over cuff size around my upper arm. As a result, it is much easier to operate. I have found the unit to be sensitive and quite accurate with readings similar to those produced by my physician.

The unit is secured on either the right or left wrist with a Velcro strip. The unit has a screen that measures 3.5" by 2.5" and three buttons on the right hand side. The screen shows diastolic and systolic pressures, as well as pulse rate and indicator for irregular heartbeat. The unit maintains the time and date of each reading in its vast 90-slot memory. The unit is powered by 2 AAA batteries.

The memory feature is very useful for keeping a record of blood pressure over an extended period of time for self observation or to share with the physician.

The unit also features the Advanced Positioning Sensor, APS. Since the accuracy of the readings depends heavily on whether the user follows the unit instructions to the letter, this APS feature is very handy and vital to the overall usability of the unit. For example, if arm is in a resting position in front of the user on a desk while the blood pressure measurement is taken with the unit, it will invariably be higher than what it should really be. The APS helps eliminate the guesswork. When the unit is turned on, there is a small heart icon on the top of the screen with arrows on both sides. The unit will emit a beeping sound as well as displaying flashing arrows next to the heart icon to direct the user to move the wrist either higher or lower in relation to the heart. When the wrist is at the same level of the heart and the position is judged to be ideal by the unit, it will emit four long beeps as indication. The unit will then inflate the wrist cuff to initiate measurement.

The actual measurement takes about 15-20 seconds and the results will be displayed on the screen. The whole process is simple and almost idiot proof. The results are accurate enough for home monitoring and trend analysis.