Biopac NIBP250 Stand Alone NIBP System

Biopac NIBP250 Stand Alone NIBP System

The NIBP250 small animal tail noninvasive blood pressure monitor is a stand-alone device to measure the blood pressure of small animals and has a touch screen LCD user interface to control the system and display the data. The monitor does not require a data acquisition system or computer to analyze the data, but can interface with existing BIOPAC data acquisition platforms and third-party systems when combining other physiological signals.

The NIBP250 is completely stand-alone; displaying, analyzing and saving the data for further use.

The NIBP250 incorporates a built-in pump that automatically inflates the blood pressure cuff to occlude the vessel in the tail of a rat or similar small animal. Once the pump reaches the inflation point it slowly deflates the cuff, providing a linear drop in pressure.

A touchscreen LCD monitors the pressure and pulse signals. Use the simple touchscreen interface (or connect a USB mouse if preferred) to easily mark the points where systolic and diastolic blood pressure appear. The system uses a peak detection routine that locates the peak of each of the pressure pulses and marks it with an asterisk. The cursors jumps from peak to peak and provides instantaneous readings for systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The NIBP250 displays the marked values for the systolic and the diastolic blood pressures and the calculated values for the mean blood pressure and the heart rate in the results window. The values are also displayed adjacent to the cursors.
The maximum inflation point can be adjusted in the properties window. The NIBP250 also includes pressure calibration and validation tools to be able to refresh and check the factory calibration. The cuff assembly attaches to the equipment via a Luer lock connector and the pulse sensor attaches via a BNC connector. The equipment also has a gain adjustment control to amplify or attenuate the pulse signal. NIBP250 provides two analog outputs for uncalibrated pressure and pulse waveforms.

The NIBP250 module has a USB 1.1 compatible flash memory port and SD card slot to move data to a computer for further analysis and publishing. It reports the raw and analyzed data files in ascii format which can easily be imported into your favorite application (e.g. AcqKnowledge, Excel, SPSS, MATLAB, etc.).

Each NIBP250 system includes:

    1 - amplifier unit (switching power supply works for 110 V or 220 V)
    1 - cuff/sensor (size 11 mm is included, but can be specified as 9.5 mm or 13 mm when ordering)
    1 - restrainer (size medium is included, but can be specified as small or large when ordering)
    1 - Pulse cable to MP System or third-party A/D hardware
    1 - Pressure cable to MP System or third-party A/D hardware

Setup and calibration details are in the Hardware Guide.

Optional accessories

    Tail Heating Unit TAILHEATING-A (110 V 60 Hz) or TAILHEATING-B (220 V 50 Hz)

Specifications

Cut-off Pressure Range: 100 – 300 mmHg (adjustable by 1mmHg steps)
Pressure Accuracy: 300 mmHg Full Scale 1%
Pressure Sensitivity: 0.1 mmHg
Pressure Signal output: 300 mmHg/3 Volt DC
Pulse Gain Levels: x1, x2, x4, x5, x8, x16, x32 (adjustable)
Pulse Signal Output: 0- 4 Volt DC
Pulse Display: Pulse intensity is displayed on A2, derived from plethysmographic measures. The tail sensor detects blood flow and pulse intensity is increased or decreased, depending on the flow ratio.
LCD Display: 7” 800x480 TFT
User Interface: Resistive Touch Panel
Analog outputs: Two BNC connectors for uncalibrated pressure and pulse signals
Triggers: Two BNC connectors for TTL Compatible trigger in and out signals
USB port:1.1 compatible (use for flash memory or computer nmouse)
Card Slot: SD card slot
Power Supply: 12 Volt 2 Amp – External

NIBP250 Quick Guide

Prepare

- While the unit is turned OFF, attach the sensor and cuff connectors.
- Turn the unit ON and wait for the unit to start and show the main acquisition screen.
- Prepare the animal and attach the sensor-cuff to its tail.

Acquire

- When the animal is prepped, press the Start button on the main screen to start the acquisition of the cuff pressure and the blood pulsations. The button label changes to Stop and you can stop the acquisition in any emergency situation.
- When the acquisition starts, the unit automatically closes the leakage valve and starts the pump for inflating the cuff.
- After the pressure reaches the maximum level it stops the pump and opens the leakage valve to make the pressure decrease slowly. The acquisition stops when the pressure reduced to the certain level.
Analyze
- After the acquisition stops, the unit automatically finds the peaks of pulsations using the pre-configured parameters, and a marker guide will appear on the screen.
- The marker can be moved along the time axis by your finger or by the cursor buttons on the top-right. You can change the movement mode by checking the peak-by-peak option under the buttons.
- After moving the marker to the systolic or the diastolic peaks, press the Sys or Dia buttons to calculate the corresponding pressure values. After marking the diastolic peak, the unit will automatically calculate the heart rate and and show it in the results section.
- Peak positions can be changed any time during analyzing step.
- Press the Save button under the results--this will automatically generate a result code that will be displayed on the top of the results section.

Save Results

- The previously saved results can be listed by pressing the Load button in the results section. Then a list will appear showing the analyzed results and the date of saving for each measurement with the result code.
- By marking the desired measurement and pressing OK button you can load the recorded pressure and pulse curves and the previously calculated results.
- After loading finishes, you can easily evaluate the results and re-analyze your measurement.

Turn Off

- Before turning off the unit, be sure that the last measurement was saved.
- Power off the unit by switching the power button on the back.