The primary blood stress monitoring machine for use with great apes was the "Tough Cuff". The Tough Cuff was developed by Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech) and Emory University. In July 2009, Zoo Atlanta acquired the primary prototype of the Tough Cuff, which was designed to be used in grownup male gorillas. What is the Tough Cuff? The Tough Cuff refers to the casing that holds the inflatable blood strain cuff in place. The Tough Cuff diameter is 6.5 inches and was designed specifically for the size of an grownup male gorilla’s arm. It may match with larger orangutan males and BloodVitals tracker male chimpanzees, however shouldn't be an correct match for females or different apes with smaller arm sizes. Why use a tricky Cuff? Adult great apes are estimated to be at least 7 instances stronger than a human, if not stronger. Therefore, zoo professionals depend on protecting caging to work together with non-anesthetized nice apes.

Having cage mesh limitations makes it impossible to take blood strain on a fantastic ape like you'll on a human. So as to work around this subject, zoo professionals use a cage mesh "sleeve" which allows an ape to extend his or her arm outwards for various training actions. A tough Cuff is used to keep a blood stress cuff in place within the cage mesh sleeve. How can I get hold of a troublesome Cuff for BloodVitals SPO2 grownup male gorillas? Zoo Atlanta has discovered a good firm, Medical Engineering, Inc., to manufacture the Tough Cuff and Cage-Mesh Sleeve. Because the manual labor BloodVitals SPO2 involved in producing one cuff or multiple cuffs is comparatively comparable, the worth varies relying on what number of cuffs are being manufactured. For that reason, the great Ape Heart Project has supplied to assist coordinate orders from a number of zoos with the producer, Bruce Harshe of Medical Engineering, Inc., in order that the individual value for every institution will probably be much less.

How can I obtain a troublesome Cuff for smaller apes like orangutans? Several zoos across the country, BloodVitals home monitor together with but not restricted to Zoo New England, Houston Zoo, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® , San Francisco Zoo, and Cameron Park Zoo, have created inserts for the Tough Cuff to reduce the circumference for smaller apes, produced smaller Tough Cuffs, or created their very own cuff-holder gadgets. Cameron Park Zoo created a 5.25 inch Tough Cuff to use with female orangutans at their zoo. The machine is produced for them by Larry Cobb at Alpha Technology. See Cameron Park Zoo’s Blood Pressure supplies and notes (PDF) for ordering data. Disney’s Animal Kingdom® and Houston Zoo have every created their own blood strain monitoring units. What are the dimensions for the cage mesh sleeve that holds the Tough Cuff in place? The cage-mesh sleeve is the protecting area that separates workers from the ape’s arm and BloodVitals tracker holds the blood strain cuff components in place. The sleeve is connected to the ape holding area/enclosure via an attachment plate which aligns with a 8″ diameter arm hole.

At Zoo Atlanta (pictured right here), our mesh sleeve measures 42″ x 8.5″ x 8.5″ inches. Does the GAHP have any recommendations for blood stress monitors? The GAHP doesn't advocate any specific blood stress displays. Normally, no matter your zoo’s veterinary division uses may be used for blood pressure monitoring. Why are finger-cuff blood stress displays solely used with bonobos? Bonobos are the smallest of the great apes. Their fingers are way more slender than gorillas or even orangutans and chimpanzees, and it appears that finger cuff monitors might not be as accurate in thick-fingered apes. It is possible that finger-cuff monitors may very well be used in different great apes like orangutans and chimpanzees, however this must be additional investigated. For now, the GAHP is simply working with bonobo-holding institutions within the United States to review finger-cuff blood stress. Please visit the Bonobo Blood Pressure Monitoring Project web page for extra data.