Right position for taking blood<unk>  Digital blood<unk>  monitor in use Arterial blood<unk>  is most commonly measured via a sphygmomanometer, which historically used the height of a column of mercury to reflect the circulating<unk> . Blood<unk>  values are generally reported in millimetres of mercury (mmHg), though aneroid and electronic devices do not contain mercury. For each heartbeat, blood<unk>  varies between systolic and diastolic<unk> s. Systolic<unk>  is peak<unk>  in the arteries, which occurs near the end of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles are contracting. Diastolic<unk>  is minimum<unk>  in the arteries, which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles are filled with blood. An example of normal measured values for a resting, healthy adult human is 120 mmHg systolic and 80 mmHg diastolic (written as 120/80 mmHg, and spoken as "one-twenty over eighty"). Systolic and diastolic arterial blood<unk> s are not static but undergo natural variations from one heartbeat to another and throughout the day (in a circadian rhythm). They also change in response to stress, nutritional factors, drugs, disease, exercise, and momentarily from standing up. Sometimes the variations are large. Hypertension refers to arterial<unk>  being abnormally high, as opposed to hypotension, when it is abnormally low. Along with body temperature, respiratory rate, and pulse rate, blood<unk>  is one of the four main vital signs routinely monitored by medical professionals and healthcare providers. Measuring<unk>  invasively, by penetrating the arterial wall to take the<unk> , is much less common and usually restricted to a hospital setting.
Blood pressure measurement
Heart rate monitor
Peripheral vascular examination
Holter monitor
Sphygmograph
Ambulatory blood pressure
Cardiac electrophysiology
Cardiac imaging