History: In 1881, the first sphygmomanometer (an instrument for measuring blood pressure,) was invented by Samuel Siegfried Karl Ritter von Basch. Scipione Riva-Rocci introduced a more easily used version in 1896 to measure systolic blood pressure.
Blood pressure is measured using two numbers. The first number, systolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in blood vessels when one’s heart beats. The second number, diastolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in blood vessels when one’s heart rests between beats.
The modern method of determining diastolic blood pressure is by auscultation (auscultation is listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope).
Modern blood pressure measurement was not developed until 1905, when Dr. Nikolai Korotkoff discovered the difference between systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. These pressures corresponded to the appearance, and disappearance, of sounds within the arteries as pressure was applied and then released. Known as Korotkoff sounds, the use of systolic and diastolic sounds is now standard in blood pressure measurement. Similar types of blood pressure cuff are still used in hospitals and medical offices.