In 1896 the first blood pressure monitor using a pneumatic cuff was invented by the Italian internist Dr. Scipione Riva-Rocci. In 1901 Dr. Harvey Williams Cushing brought it to the USA.

They knew then that the original 2-inch cuff was inaccurate leading to wider cuffs used today. But what was really revealed about the inadequacy of using this way of measuring blood pressure all the way back then? And why haven’t we found a more accurate way to measure blood pressure close to 120 years later? Listen now!