Measurement of Neuromuscular Blockade—A Comparsion between a New “Homemade” Force Displacement Transducer and the Accelerometer

Abstract

Train-oi-four (TOF) ratios are compared between a new homemade force pressure transducer and a commercially available accelerometer. TWenty adult patients were studied and 600 simultaneous TOF ratio pairs were recorded during anaesthesia with varying degrees of muscle relaxation. Laboratory testing revealed that the output from the homemade device was linear up to 900 g and that there was a linear relationship between the output from the new device and the accelerometer (y = 0.802x + 5.167, R = 0.943, t = 69, P < 0.0001). Although the homemade device underestimates the accelerometer TOF ratio by 20%, it is a reliable and economic alternative to commercially available products for measuring TOF ratios.

Acceleromyography for Use in Scientific and Clinical Practice

“…Two of the 15 studies were excluded; in one, the great toe was used for monitor-ing, 43 and in the other, a prototype of a mechanomyograph was sought validated using acceleromyography as the gold standard. 44 The remaining 13 studies were all performed in adults (table 2). 1,4 -6,45-53 In 11 of these, the primary aim was to compare acceleromyography with mechanomyography, 1,4 -6,46 -49,51-53 and in 2, it was to compare the performance of acceleromyographic TOF with other tests for PORC.…”

Monitoring Neuromuscular Transmission

“…Probably the simplest is the use of a syringe, taped into the hand of the patient and connected to a manometer 39 . A somewhat more sophisticated version of the device uses a pressure transducer connected to any invasive blood pressure monitor instead of a manometer to record response 40,41 . Another ingenious system is devised from a drip set wrapped around the subject's hand, connected to a pressure transducer 42 .…”