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Human Research Facility Continuous Blood Pressure Device (CBPD)
03.10.09
Scientists and payload developers can get more information on International Space Station research facilities by contacting the ISS Payloads Office or at 281-244-6187.

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Facility/Payload Overview

Brief Facility Summary

The Continuous Blood Pressure Device (CBPD) is a non-invasive beat-to-beat blood pressure, heart rate and electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement device for use by crewmembers in microgravity.

Facility Manager(s)

  • Cynthia Haven, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

    • Co-Facility Manager(s)

    Information Pending

    Facility Developer

    Johnson Space Center, Human Research Program, Houston, TX

    Sponsoring Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    |13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|

    Previous ISS Missions

    Information Pending

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    Facility/Payload Description

    Facility Summary

    • The Continuous Blood Pressure Device (CBPD) measures blood pressure, heart rate and electrical activity of the heart.


    • CBPD requires a 28 Vdc power supply or a 12 V battery power supply pack to allow continuous operation.


    • The CBPD has three different size finger cuffs to accommodate all International Space Station crewmembers.

    Description

    The Continuous Blood Pressure Device (CBPD) is a non-invasive continuous blood pressure measurement device that measures blood pressure at the finger using plethysmography (which measures the change in volume of the finger due to blood flow). Finger cuffs, which have a small bladder and an infrared spectral measurement transmitter and receiver, are placed around the fingers. A basic three-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) amplifier is also provided for measurement of ECG data from the subject.

    The CBPD is configured in a waist belt with three pouches to allow for individual (but electrically connected) stowage of the pump, microprocessor and a DC power adapter, which is replaced by batteries for ambulatory use. The waist pouch configuration supports the frontend servo-controller which operates attached to the back of the forearm and interfaces to the microprocessor and pump through electrical and air tube connections. The front end controls the pressure and data interface to the finger cuffs being used for arterial blood pressure monitoring. The frontend unit sends pressure feedback from infrared LEDs to the microprocessor for pump control and data acquisition purposes. The microprocessor has an internal flash memory card that can store up to 40 megabytes of blood pressure and heart rate data. The CBPD power and data interfaces reside at the microprocessor unit. The CBPD can, via software, interface to the HRF Laptop and Workstation to download, display, and archive data. The data interfaces are RS-232 for PC monitoring and control, input for analog electrocardiogram (ECG),heart rate and respiration timing, and output for analog blood pressure, ECG and height correction.

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    Operations

    Facility Operations

    The CBPD can be used to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure for a wide range of investigations. The hardware (excluding the frontend unit which goes on the forearm) can be worn around the crewmembers' waist for extended periods of time, or it can be attached to a handrail or other Human Research Facility (HRF) hardware depending on the application.

    To use the CBPD, the crewmember retrieves the hardware from its stowage location and dons the waist pack and frontend unit. The CBPD front-end unit is worn on the wrist or lower forearm and the main unit is inside a belt assembly worn around the waist. Alternatively, the belt assembly can be tethered to a hand rail during certain experiment scenarios. The finger cuffs are then applied. The CBPD can operate in two modes.

    • Ambulatory mode - battery powered, storing data on internal memory.

    • Monitoring mode - battery or rack power, sending data in real time to the PC via RS-232 or to ADAS via +/-5V analog outputs.
    Depending on the experiment, the CBPD interfaces with the ADAS, HRF Laptop, or HRF Workstation, although it can operate independently of any of these devices. The subject sets the appropriate software parameters including age, weight, height, etc. This can be done via the frontend unit keypad/display or, if using the Laptop/Workstation, via that software interface to the CBPD. Power is obtained either via the HRF Common Battery or the CBPD dc Power Adapter. The power option selected depends on the experiment scenario; the battery allows for untethered operations.

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    Results/More Information

    Information Pending

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    Availability

  • On-Board ISS

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    Related Web Sites

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    Publications

    Results Publications

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      Related Publications

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        Images

        imageNASA Image: JSC2005e45877 - Expedition 13 Astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, Space Station Science Officer and Flight Engineer trains in the Payload Development Laboratory in Building 9 at Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX using the CBPD while Lee Barker (trainer) assists.
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        imageNASA Image: JSC2005e45872 - Expedition 13 Astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, Space Station Science Officer and Flight Engineer trains in the Payload Development Laboratory in Building 9 at Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX holding up two finger cuffs during training on the Human Research Facility (HRF) CBPD.
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        Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office
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