Putting off seeing my GP for months isn’t one of my finer decisions, especially as I get older and arguably lead a fairly stressful lifestyle. To help me keep an eye on my blood pressure is the CAVN Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor (CH-S692L).
Safety Warnings and Important Usage Guidelines
I am kicking this review off by pointing out who should not be using this device. This is taken verbatim from the user manual.
- Do not use on infants, children, or anyone unable to communicate symptoms, unless directed by a clinician.
- Do not use on the same arm with an arteriovenous (AV) shunt, intravenous line, severe vascular disease, or injury.
- Avoid the arm on the side of a mastectomy / lymph node removal unless a clinician approves.
- People with severe arrhythmias or implanted electronic medical devices should consult a clinician before use.
CAVN Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor: First Impressions
The Blood Pressure Monitor is not a very compact machine. It has a rigid structure with a generously sized arm barrel that supports 18-42cm range, so I imagine unless you are Popeye, you are probably ok.
It is a departure from the traditional cuff types, so there is no fiddling around with how tight you need to wrap it around your bicep.
The arm barrel is hinged and can rotate towards you. On the opposite side is an arm bracket that hinges and rotates away so you can rest your arm on it. To position your arm correctly, you just have to rest your elbow pressure switch.
The Blood Pressure Monitor runs on battery power, and can be recharged via a USB-C port at the back of the unit. Nearby on the side is a big red emergency stop button.
Before you start using it, you should set the date and time correctly so that it reflects correctly when recalling data from memory.
You also get to set the units to mmHg or kPa. I am old school, I work with mm of Mercury.
What is that you might ask It’s a unit of pressure originally based on how high a column of liquid mercury would rise under a given pressure. You don’t see that much anymore in a modern setting now, but for the sake of completeness, the conversion is kPa = mmHg × 0.133322.
The unit is actually surprisingly lightweight.
Staring down the barrel …
Using the CAVN Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor
With modern Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors, you don’t need to be a doctor or nurse to keep an eye on this metric of your health.
The instructions are simple, it starts with how to position your arm – you need your arm and heart at the same level.
If your arm is higher than your heart, then the blood pressure reading will be lower than actual. And vice versa if it is lower than the heart, the reading will be higher than actual.
The instructions are helpfully printed on the arm bracket so you don’t need to go hunting for the manual every time.
Once you are positioned correctly, just hit the start button and wait.
The cuff in the arm barrel will inflate to just touching your skin. Don’t panic, just wait. Then it will further inflate and take the readings to be displayed on the screen.
Their should be a brief moment of discomfort to get the reading and then it will deflate gradually.
If you need to stop the reading, you can press on the stop button and it will take about five seconds for the cuff to deflate fully.
If you need an emergency stop, then mash the red emergency stop button and it will immediately deflate. This will also reset the device’s date and time.
On the side of the LED is an intuitive green, yellow, and red marking that makes it simple to interpret the readings quickly.
Battery Life, Memory and Additional Features
The 20,000 mAh battery on the CAVN Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor is rechargeable, but not replaceable. It is rated to support up to 150 measurements, which is makes it portable and quite long lasting.
It is absolutely not waterproof or water resistant. You can clean it with a damp cloth – either water or 70% isopropyl alchohol.
It supports a maximum of two users with a history of 99 readings each.
Minor Drawbacks
Only one, the plug over the USB-C port is begging to be lost. It is small and not attached to anything.
Final Verdict: Is the CAVN Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor Worth Buying?
The CAVN Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor is a simple device. Simple to use and to maintain. It has a memory function for historical readings, and there are no apps to connect to.
It is FDA-cleared, but a word of warning though, it does not replace a visit to your doctor. It is sufficient to allow you to keep an eye on your blood pressure in between those visits.
It has a RRP USD$249.99 and is available on their website or Amazon US. There is a 20% site-wide on the CAVN site at time of publishing.
DRN would like to thank CAVN for providing the review unit.
