A Pressure Transducer Translates Many Different Types Of Body Movements.

Next time you visit your doctor for a routine checkup, notice the pressure transducer in his exam room. If you're not sure what that is, just look for the cuff that is put around your arm to check your blood pressure. When you think about it, the science behind checking something as simple as blood pressure is impressive. Each time your heart beats it creates pressure in your blood vessels and they expand slightly. If an object is resting against the blood vessel as it expands then pressure is applied to the object. A blood pressure cuff is a transducer that takes that pressure and measures it, then translates the pressure change into a signal sent up to equipment that reads the signal, amplifies it, and then organizes the data so that it can be read.

Another useful transducer is used to determine heel and toe pressure applied when a patient walks, runs or jumps. Sometimes also used by professional athletes for analyzing their running, walking and jumping habits, these instruments are able to translate the force applied by either the heel or the toe. Force sensitive resistors are attached to the bottom of the subject's shoes and they perform routine movements while the transducers convert the pressure to signals that can be read by various software programs. Not only do these transducers show the movement of the foot but they give clues as to weight distribution and balance throughout the whole body.

There is even a type of pressure transducer that is used for measuring blood flow in very small blood vessels and tissue. Laser Doppler micro vascular probes have the transducer signal delivery fiber right in the tip of a needle that can be placed in a very specific area. Held in place usually by clamps, these tiny tools can monitor blood flow inside tissue and are extremely useful in today's micro surgery environments as well as laboratory tests.

There are transducers that translate air flow pressure in and out of the lungs, range of motion, and an incredible number of different types of input. Next time someone takes your blood pressure, take note of the pressure transducer that we all know as the blood pressure cuff. These commonplace pieces of equipment are used everywhere in the medical profession and provide accurate, speedy translations of our bodies' movements.