Wrist-Worn, Cuffless Blood Pressure Monitor
December 20, 2018 | Texas A&M UniversityEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering has announced the funding of a grant to investigators at Texas A&M University and Yale University for the development of a wrist-worn, cuffless blood pressure monitoring system. The project is sponsored for $1.2 million over four years.
With a team of engineers, computer scientists and physician-scientists led by Drs. Roozbeh Jafari and Bobak Mortazavi at Texas A&M, and Drs. Harlan Krumholz and Erica Spatz at Yale, the goal is to create a device that can unobtrusively measure blood pressure throughout the day and night and across a range of activities.
Elevated blood pressure occurs in almost half of adults and is a strong risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The blood pressure treatment guidelines recommend frequent measurement of blood pressure to define risk and treatment response, but current methods involve the periodic inflation of a blood pressure cuff, which is bothersome during the day and interrupts sleep at night. The development of a cuffless wearable device could revolutionize the approach to blood pressure management, a technology that was developed over a century ago and has undergone very few changes and enhancements over the years.
“We have developed a novel approach for measuring blood pressure that can obviate the need for the traditional blood pressure cuff,” said Jafari, principal investigator and associate professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M. “We are excited to see the translation of this technology to practice with its significant impact on how blood pressure can be used for diagnosis, prognosis and management of hypertension.”
The funding represents an emerging collaboration between the two institutions. “We are so pleased to have created such a strong multidisciplinary team. My hope is that this technology will lead to a paradigm shift in the way that blood pressure is measured and will strongly improve our ability to reduce risk in the population,” said Krumholz, the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Yale.
The work will require advanced analytics applied to the data produced by the device in order to maximize its clinical impact. “I see the future as combining novel ways of acquiring information with sophisticated approaches to analyzing the complex, streaming data, with the use of analytics, in ways that provide useful information,” noted Mortazavi, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M.
In the end, the value of the technology will depend on the clinical impact. “From the outset we are making plans to test the device in clinical populations and are oriented toward evaluating not only the validity of the information, but its usefulness in characterizing and treating hypertension,” said Spatz, assistant professor of medicine at Yale.
“Our hope is that this technology will lead to a paradigm shift in the way that blood pressure is measured and will strongly improve our ability to reduce risk in the population,” noted Jafari and Krumholz.
Suggested Items
IDTechEx Explores the Role of 3D Cu-Cu Hybrid Bonding in Powering Future HPC and AI Products
04/18/2024 | PRNewswireSemiconductor packaging has evolved from traditional 1D PCB levels to cutting-edge 3D hybrid bonding at the wafer level, achieving interconnecting pitches as small as single micrometers and over 1000 GB/s bandwidth. Key parameters, including Power, Performance, Area, and Cost, are crucial considerations
Intel Brings AI-Platform Innovation to Life at the Olympic Games
04/18/2024 | BUSINESS WIREIntel announced its plans for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. Bringing AI Everywhere, Intel will implement artificial intelligence technology powered by Intel processors on the world’s biggest stage.
Adura Solutions Exhibits at Del Mar 2024
04/18/2024 | Adura SolutionsSumit Tomar, CEO of Adura Solutions, has announced that his company will be exhibiting at this year's Del Mar Electronics and Manufacturing Show to be held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, San Diego, California, April 24-25.
Australian Flow Batteries and The SCHMID Group Announce Groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding
04/17/2024 | SCHMID GroupAustralian Flow Batteries Pty Ltd (AFB), a leader in innovative energy solutions and economical, safe, and reliable power storage, and SCHMID Energy Systems GmbH a company of the German SCHMID Group, a global technology leader with a rich history in delivering innovative solutions across multiple industries including Electronics, Renewables, and Energy Storage sectors, are thrilled to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
Ansys Joins BAE Systems’ Mission Advantage Program to Advance Digital Engineering Across US Department of Defense
04/16/2024 | ANSYSAnsys announced it is working with BAE Systems, Inc., to accelerate the adoption of digital engineering and MBSE across the Department of Defense (DoD).