New cheap smartphone app monitors blood pressure at your fingertips

Aug 25, 2023

Prototype of the blood pressure monitoring clip. (DigitalHealthLab/UCSanDiego via SWNS)

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

A cheap smartphone app has been developed that monitors blood pressure at your fingertips.

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The simple 3D printed plastic smartphone attachment clips into the camera and flash - and will cost less than 10p.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one of the world's biggest killers.

It affects more than one-in-four Brits. Many are unaware as there are no symptoms.

Study first author Tom Xuan, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, San Diego, said: "We have created an inexpensive solution to lower the barrier to blood pressure monitoring."

The price is expected to fall to just 10 cents a unit with mass production.

It could help make regular checks more easy, affordable and accessible. Older people and pregnant women, for example, will be better able to manage the condition.

The user presses on the clip, and a custom smartphone app guides the user on how hard and long to press during the measurement. (DigitalHealthLab/UCSanDiego via SWNS)

Senior author Professor Edward Wang, director of the university's Digital Health Lab, said: "Because of their low cost, these clips could be handed out to anyone who needs them but cannot go to a clinic regularly.

"A blood pressure monitoring clip could be given to you at your checkup, much like how you get a pack of floss and toothbrush at your dental visit.

"This is what distinguishes our device from other blood pressure monitors."

Another key advantage is it avoids the problems of blood pressure cuffs. Using one that is too large or small can give inaccurate readings.

Other cuffless systems being developed for smartwatches and smartphones, he explained, require obtaining a separate set of measurements with a cuff so that their models can be tuned to fit these measurements.

He added: "Ours is a calibration-free system, meaning you can just use our device without touching another blood pressure monitor to get a trustworthy blood pressure reading."

To measure blood pressure, the user simply presses on the clip.

A customized app guides them on how hard and long to push during the measurement.

The clip features an optical design similar to that of a pinhole camera. The smartphone's flash lights up the user's fingertip.

It is then projected as an image of a red circle. A spring allows different levels of force. The harder, the bigger the red circle appears.

By looking at the size of the circle, the app can measure the amount of pressure the fingertip applies.

The simple 3D printed plastic attachment clips into the camera and flash - and will cost less than 10p. (DigitalHealthLab/UCSanDiego via SWNS)

The brightness of the circle depicts the volume of blood going in and out.

An algorithm converts this information into systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers.

The former reading measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats an the latter that in your arteries when it rests.

The researchers tested the clip on 24 volunteers from the UC San Diego Medical Center. Results were comparable to those taken by a blood pressure cuff.

Co-author Dr. Alison Moore, a geriatrician at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, said: "Using a standard blood pressure cuff can be awkward to put on correctly, and this solution has the potential to make it easier for older adults to self-monitor blood pressure."

The device described in Scientific Reports is expected to work on all smartphones.

Next steps include making the technology more user friendly, especially for older adults, testing its accuracy across different skin tones and creating a more universal design.

Originally published on talker.news, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.

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