Is it possible to record multiple animals at the same time using NIBP?

Yes, however each animal is connected to a separate NIBP unit. Therefore you will need to buy additional NIBP units to do this. The NIBP systems are daisy-chained via the I2C bus to the PowerLab. ADInstruments have tested eight NIBP simultaneously connected with a 16/30 PowerLab and have confirmed that this works. The Pulse and Pressure signals from each system are recorded using two channels (BNC) on a PowerLab. Note:

  1. If using only one NIBP system with PowerLab, the PowerLab trigger can be used to start/stop the NIBP.
  2. If using multiple NIBP systems with PowerLab, then the user may either manually start/stop each NIBP or use the Digital Outputs to simultaneously start/stop multiple NIBP Controllers. 
NOTE: PowerLabs featuring Digital Outputs have 8 independent TTL compatible outputs. It will be necessary to customize a cable with a BNC cable/connector  to connect to the Trigger In port for each NIBP system. The Digital Output dialogue in LabChart may then be used to turn on/off all Digital Outputs simultaneously which will trigger each NIBP to start/stop at the same time. 

If recording multiple animals simultaneously, each NIBP unit will behave a little differently with respect to time. Thus the main advantage of using multiple units would be to save time and simplify the experiment. This is because there is some variation in how the cuffs are fitted, the inflation and deflation rates of the cuffs between units. As the tubing gets older and stiffer, the response will change, etc.

The derived parameters, however, such as max BP will be comparable between animals. What the system cannot do is provide a calibrated time period for the diastolic phase between animals or other time-based measures.