Arterial Line

Explore how the catheter–tubing–transducer system distorts the arterial trace. Adjust the natural frequency and damping to move between optimally damped, overdamped and underdamped tracings, run the fast-flush square-wave test to tell them apart, and watch the measured pressure diverge from the true pressure.

ARTERIAL PRESSUREOPTIMAL
ABP--/--mmHg
MEASURED BP
--/-- mmHg
TRUE BP
--/-- mmHg
MEASURED MAP
-- mmHg
TRUE MAP
-- mmHg
DAMPING
—
DAMPING COEFF (ζ)
--
Damping

≈0.6 optimal · >0.8 overdamped · <0.4 underdamped (rings).
Lower fₙ (long / compliant tubing) rings more.
Patient