The fast flush test: evaluation in radial artery catheter-manometer systems.
The 'fast flush test' is commonly used to determine the dynamic response of catheter-manometer systems in vivo. We compared the fast flush test with an established bench top test in vitro. The results of the two tests were compared in fifteen underdamped radical artery catheter-manometer systems. There were significant differences between the results, (P less than 0.001 for both resonant frequency and damping factor), and the variance of estimates within measurement systems was significantly greater in the case of the fast flush test (P less than 0.05 and P less than 0.005 for resonant frequency and damping factor respectively). Nevertheless, the differences between the tests were small by comparison with the errors associated with either test; in addition there was a significant linear correlation between the results of the two tests (r = 0.91, P less than 0.001 and r = 0.85, P less than 0.001 for resonant frequency and damping factor respectively). In the in vitro situation, therefore, the fast flush test provides a crude estimate of the dynamic parameters of underdamped catheter-manometer systems.
Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
N F
NF
Sheahan
B
B
Tuohy
R
R
Kirkham
D
D
Coakley
J
J
Malone
D001158:Arteries; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D006801:Humans; D008365:Manometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods