24-7 Blood Pressure Monitoring Without the Cuff
Outcome/Accomplishment
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a serious health challenge costing billions of dollars a year in medical costs. New methods aim to detect problems before they require medical intervention. One approach created by researchers is a new kind of wearable patch that can continuously measure blood pressure without a cuff. The patch tracks blood pressure 24 hours a day so that problems are caught early, enabling speedy treatment and better outcomes. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations (NSF PATHS-UP) Engineering Research Center (ERC), headquartered at Texas A&M University (TAMU), as part of its mission to improve healthcare for communities that need it most. (See figure 1 and 2.)
Impact/Benefits
The patch uses a tiny sensor system that can directly measure pressure in the arteries while automatically adjusting for things like skin movement or outside forces. A plus is that it avoids the strong compression used in regular blood pressure cuffs. Additional testing is underway, with all indications that this breakthrough could make real-time, non-invasive blood pressure tracking possible not just in clinics but also in daily life.
Explanation/Background
The device was carefully tested by volunteers who wore it in daily trials. Ten people participated in activities such as using a leg press machine to safely raise and lower blood pressure so test the sensor’s accuracy. These results were compared with those produced by similar, highly rated medical technology for continuous non-invasive blood pressure measurement, confirming particularly good accuracy.
The patch uses a strain gauge-based dual transducer system within a compact patch form factor. The strain gauge is a full Wheatstone bridge circuit and directly quantifies arterial pressure while compensating for tissue deformation and external forces.
This work has led to six patent applications, the launch of a new company, and a paper in Nature Communications, a multidisciplinary, open-access journal that covers all the natural sciences.
Location
College Station, Texaswebsite
Start Year
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Outcome/Accomplishment
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a serious health challenge costing billions of dollars a year in medical costs. New methods aim to detect problems before they require medical intervention. One approach created by researchers is a new kind of wearable patch that can continuously measure blood pressure without a cuff. The patch tracks blood pressure 24 hours a day so that problems are caught early, enabling speedy treatment and better outcomes. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations (NSF PATHS-UP) Engineering Research Center (ERC), headquartered at Texas A&M University (TAMU), as part of its mission to improve healthcare for communities that need it most. (See figure 1 and 2.)
Location
College Station, Texaswebsite
Start Year
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Biotechnology and Healthcare
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Impact/benefits
The patch uses a tiny sensor system that can directly measure pressure in the arteries while automatically adjusting for things like skin movement or outside forces. A plus is that it avoids the strong compression used in regular blood pressure cuffs. Additional testing is underway, with all indications that this breakthrough could make real-time, non-invasive blood pressure tracking possible not just in clinics but also in daily life.
Explanation/Background
The device was carefully tested by volunteers who wore it in daily trials. Ten people participated in activities such as using a leg press machine to safely raise and lower blood pressure so test the sensor’s accuracy. These results were compared with those produced by similar, highly rated medical technology for continuous non-invasive blood pressure measurement, confirming particularly good accuracy.
The patch uses a strain gauge-based dual transducer system within a compact patch form factor. The strain gauge is a full Wheatstone bridge circuit and directly quantifies arterial pressure while compensating for tissue deformation and external forces.
This work has led to six patent applications, the launch of a new company, and a paper in Nature Communications, a multidisciplinary, open-access journal that covers all the natural sciences.