"Your petMAP™ blood pressure device is the best new veterinary product on the market. Blood pressure is so easy to take now, and it is cost effective to do exam room blood pressure. Doppler is a technique nightmare and the oscillometric devices are too cumbersome outside of surgery. We use the petMAP™ in the exam room, surgery, and dentistry. I am a "techie" and a former engineering student before going to vet school. I really appreciate an innovative and extremely useful instrument that enables me to practice better medicine."

Barry L. Bjornsen, DVM
N.E. Animal Hospital
Denver, CO

"We really like the petMAP blood pressure reader. As a veterinary nurse, I can go cage side, and get a blood pressure reading on a patient by myself. The patient is not bothered by any noise or hassle. It is also a wonderful tool for teaching new students how to obtain a blood pressure."

Vivian Tiffany, CVT
Instructor
St. Petersburg College
College of Veterinary Technology

"We are a small contract research business undertaking low-impact animal health studies. We have recently conducted a pilot study which required blood pressure measurements. Not having taken BP measurements in our previous private practice or research work, we networked to locate equipment which would give reliable BP data on conscious dogs. Due to the nature of the research requiring assessments on a number of dogs to occur at certain time points, the method had to be simple and repeatable. Searching on the net, I found a well known BP monitor on the Surgitrade site and left a message … but when Ian Jamieson called back and I explained my needs he said without hesitation “I’d only recommend the petMAP - it’s new and it’s exactly what you want”. Having now gained experience with it and successfully conducted the study, I’m sure he gave us the right advice.

The info states that PetMAP is a battery powered veterinary blood pressure measuring device which uses the oscillometric method (unlike a Doppler system) to measure systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, mean arterial pressure and heart rate in companion animals.

When we received the unit I was surprised at its small size, which belies the technological wizardry within. After an initial squiz I watched the instructional DVD, and I’d have to say it’s excellently done and if you follow it, you’ll know virtually all there is to know. (even though the DVD says that there’s a lot more info in the manual).

Use of the unit is very simple and we were readily able to train ourselves and our assistants to perform the BP assessments in no time. It has been calibrated to optimize its readings to suit the species (dog or cat) and the cuff site (forearm, hindfoot or tail) and these settings are simple to change. For all of our measurements we used the Dog - Forefoot setting. Choice of the correct cuff size is essential to the accuracy of the readings, but the cuffs are marked with lines showing the “optimum” range and the “definitely not past here!” range so it’s a piece of cake choosing the right one. The only cuffs we used (for Labradors) were 5.5 and 6.5cm. We made sure we always used the same size cuff for each dog at each successive reading. I think that’s important, and in a clinic it would be smart to hang the cuff you’re using on the dog’s cage door, to make sure you use the same one next time.

Basically once the cuff is on and connected all you have to do is pump up the cuff which generally takes just one big squeeze of the rubber bulb, to push the pressure up to around 260mm Hg. The dogs didn’t seem to notice this. Then you can just let the machine deflate automatically - it drops the pressure in steps over 45 seconds or more. You can elect to deflate the unit manually but you have to be very quick to depress the lever or the unit starts the auto mode. When squeezing the bulb I found that you have to squeeze it flat against the plastic guard - if you squeeze it laterally, it leaks air.

The readings are displayed very simply. Small LED lights marking the 3 data points in descending order for Systolic, Mean Arterial (MAP) and Diastolic pressure. A similar flashing point marks the HR data point. If the HR value is the same as one of the BP parameters the flashing light will represent both numbers.

To get a decent reading you perform repeated measurements, and the petMAP memorizes the session. We always did 6 measurements, and if one of those gave a strange reading we did another one. When the session is finished you switch it off then back on again and the petMAP displays the calculated “Nominal Session BP” (NSBP) readings. According to the manual the NSBP readings are not an average of the BP readings, but a substantially more robust statistical measure of the animal’s nominal BP during the BP session which eliminates BP outliers. It certainly seemed to work well. We got remarkably consisted readings, particularly with respect to MAP.

In summary the petMAP is a great little system - dead easy to use and works well. The hardest part is the patience required to spend 5 or more minutes getting a good session of readings. Unlike other methods it’s a totally one handed automatic operation; it’s very quiet and peaceful to do; there’s not much that can go wrong; there’s no subjective assessment required and the calculation of a “final” reading is automatic. The most significant factor which can vary the reading is the excitement or movement of the dog. If you grab a dog, plonk it on the table and immediately start taking readings, the parameters will be extremely high due to excitement. It’s better to let the dog settle into the new environment and keep it calm, or even better can be to do the reading on the dog where it is, without moving it."

Andrew & Janet Von Berky
Von Berky Veterinary Services
3 Hawthorne St, Woody Point QLD 4019
Australia



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