Tiny sensor could track blood pressure continuously without inflatable cuff
A tiny sensor could one day measure blood pressure continuously, comfortably and accurately without an inflatable cuff. The device was developed by professors Amir Rosenthal and Daniel Lange of the Technion's Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, together with doctoral student Gil Gelbert. They published their findings in Nature Communications.
A tiny sensor, developed by researchers Amir Rosenthal, Daniel Lange and doctoral student Gil Gelbert from the Technion, could soon measure blood pressure continuously without the need for an inflatable cuff. Published in Nature Communications, the researchers' findings could revolutionize cardiovascular health monitoring. Traditional blood pressure measurement relies on an inflatable cuff that provides a single point reading.
However, the new device is a wearable sensor utilizing silicon photonics and optoacoustic technology. Short light pulses generate ultrasound waves within an artery, while the SPADE sensor measures both the artery's absolute diameter and its changes during each heartbeat. This allows for the reconstruction of the full blood pressure waveform and real-time, continuous estimation.
SPADE's ability to measure arterial diameter provides a significant advantage over previous technologies, enabling more accurate blood pressure estimation. The sensor's design is simple, using a single tiny component that is relatively tolerant of position and angle changes. In proof-of-concept tests, the system captured blood pressure waveform characteristics at a rate of 100 measurements per second.
The technology has the potential to be integrated into devices like smartwatches, medical patches and other wearables, allowing users to monitor their blood pressure continuously at home, work and during daily activities. This could improve the monitoring of individuals with cardiovascular disease. The study also involved researchers Ron Moisseev, Yoav Hazan and Tamar Harary.
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