Newly developed software for capillary blood pressure analysis in microcirculatory research.

The introduction of the servonulling technique by Wiederhielm in 1963 allowed for the first time continuous and dynamic recording of capillary blood pressure (CP). In 1979 Mahler used this technique for the first measurements in humans. Data analysis was limited to manual analysis of chart recordings. Nowadays fast analog-digital converters with ay high sampling frequency are used for data recordings, and consequently there is a need for an easy-to-use software for data analysis of CP data. The presented newly developed computer software allows analysis of mean CP, taking into account the zero pressure measured before and after capillary cannulation. The simultaneously recorded electrocardiogram R wave is used as a marker for the calculation of the mean capillary pulse pressure waves and of their characteristic data. This may help determine the significance of the capillary pulse waveform for microvascular function. Changes in the pulse waveform may be the only detectable difference between patients and healthy controls. Analysis of simultaneously recorded temperature, the display of markers for valid readings, and the possibility of excluding nonvalid data or artefacts from analysis are additional features.