Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors: The Future of Health Tracking

Blood pressure concerns are common today. Even the World Health Organisation has accepted the fact that it is one of the most alarming signals for millions of deaths per year. Yet, many out there are not aware of the fact that they are normal or hypertensive.

Regular blood pressure checks help you to understand whether you are hypertensive or not. While the doctors are experienced in accurately interpreting those ranges with their theoretical understanding, self-diagnosis on the part of the patient is not recommended.

But do not worry! You do not need to visit your doctor daily to measure your blood pressure levels. Wearable blood pressure monitors are available at your service. The wearable blood pressure monitor has been in use since 1896 with the first non-invasive blood pressure measurement reported in 1881. Let’s explore what it is.

Why Monitoring Your Blood Pressure Levels Is A Rising Concern?

High blood pressure has always been known as the cause of silent deaths. Mostly, they are the culprits of most of your strokes and heart attacks. Avoiding regular checks can result in a health timebomb.

A healthy person’s optimum blood pressure level is 120 / 80 mmHg. A reading below this is classified as hypotensive, and a reading above is classified as hypertensive. Regular check-ups are crucial after a specific age to ensure that you are prepared and informed about your own blood pressure.

What Are Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors?

Several scientific communities and industries are keen on designing and developing small and wearable blood pressure monitoring devices. These devices are backed with different advanced technical approaches for blood pressure monitoring.

The wearable medical devices won’t help you maintain your levels within the required ranges. Instead, they are devices that monitor and provide triggers indicating that something is wrong with your body. You need to adapt to a healthy lifestyle based on the indications and notifications they provide.

Cuffless Wearable Devices

The cuffless wearable devices for monitoring your blood pressure are built with advanced technologies. These are small and light, durable yet comfortable. Moreover, they are designed considering the reliability of their functionality and affordability to your wallet.

These wearable blood pressure monitors contain sensors that provide an electrical output. These electrical outputs of your blood pressure levels are then digitally processed to appear on your screen.

PAT and PPG are the two most popular metrics that wearable devices use for monitoring blood pressure levels.

PAT

• Measures pulse arrival time
• Measures the speed of a pulse wave travelling between two arteries to determine your blood pressure
• Most commonly used cuffless type
• US FDA-approved

PPG

• Uses Photoplethysmography
• Two sensors – optical and inertial
• Detects patterns of your blood flow
• Measures the light absorbed or reflected by your blood vessels to determine your blood flow rate
• US FDA approved

Benefits of Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors

Wearable blood pressure monitors offer a plethora of benefits –

• early indicators of potential health concerns
• frequent and comfortable measurements
• personalised monitoring and care

Can Cuffless Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors Replace Doctor Visits?

The answer is NO.

You Still Need to See Your Doctor!

While wearable blood pressure monitors are good, they do not surpass the brilliance of their traditional counterparts. Even research published in the National Library of Medicine confirms this. A conventional monitor measures your blood pressure by sensing what pressure your arterial blood exerts on its wall. That happens when your doctor tightly wraps the cuff around your arm.

Wearable devices such as fitness trackers, smartwatches and others do their job differently. They collect the other data from your body. This data is then used to approximate your blood pressure levels. They nudge and notify you with the stats. Sometimes, they do offer elaborate plans for transforming your lifestyle into a healthier one. However, they are only accurate enough to obtain relative blood pressure changes. They do not offer you the absolute numbers.

To maximise their benefits, you first need to evaluate your blood pressure using a traditional cuff and enter its reading into these devices. This is how you calibrate the devices to adjust to your body. It then expresses your blood pressure levels as a familiar ratio of systolic to diastolic levels (for example, a pressure of 120/80 mmHg).

No Clarity on Vouching for their Readings

Scientists have postulated a few standards for testing how accurately the traditional digital and cuff-based monitor works and gives results. They aren’t sure about how beneficial those standards are for the cuffless devices. Hence, validating their accuracy is still a puzzle to solve.

Your Doctor May Not Interpret Your Device Data Accurately

It is unclear how the doctors interpret the data fetched by these wearable blood pressure monitors. Protocols developed for measuring blood pressure are primarily for the resting position.

There are also specific considerations, such as you should be sitting in a correct posture with absolute silence and should have rested for at least 5 minutes before. When you visit your doctor, it is easier for them to have control over these parameters. This is not the case when you randomly measure your blood pressure with those wearable medical devices.

Takeaway

The benefits of wearable blood pressure monitors are from simple to profound. However, it is necessary to calibrate them first. You must also correlate your monthly readings with your doctor’s readings at least once per month. The traditional arm cuff blood pressure monitor is calibrated and standardised as per requirements. Even though wearable blood pressure devices might be more comfortable, you shouldn’t avoid visiting your doctor to validate your results.

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