Adjustable Cuffless Smartphone Attachment (ACSA+) for Estimation of Blood Pressure Trends: A Pilot Study

Among the elderly, hypertension remains one of the prevalent health conditions, which requires monitoring and intervention strategies. Nevertheless, regular reporting of blood pressure (BP) from these individuals still poses multiple challenges. However, most people own cell phone and are engaged in phone conversations daily. Here, we propose an adjustable cuffless smartphone attachment (ACSA+) equipped with a PPG sensor for the estimation of BP during phone conversations. ACSA+ can be easily attached to the back of any modern cell phone. ACSA+ will help to continuously collect BP data and store it as a trend line.

Feasibility, credence, and usefulness of out-of-office cuffless blood pressure monitoring using smartwatch: a population survey

BACKGROUND

Cuffless blood pressure (BP) measurement, enabled by recent advances in wearable devices, allows for BP monitoring in daily life. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility, cresdence, and usefulness of cuffless BP monitoring through a population survey.

METHODS

During the "Daily BP Measurement with Your Galaxy Watch" campaign held by the Korean Society of Hypertension, participants were asked to share their experiences with cuffless BP measurement using a smartwatch application through an online survey. The questionnaire included questions about age, underlying medical conditions, smartwatch utilization, experience with BP calibration, the reliability of BP values measured by a smartwatch, and willingness to use the BP monitoring function in the future.

RESULTS

A total of 1071 participants responded to the survey. The largest age group (decile) was 50-59 years old (33.3%), followed by 40-49 years old (29.9%). Although nearly half of the participants (47.5%) had no chronic diseases, 40.1% reported having hypertension. BP monitoring was the most frequently utilized smartwatch function (95.8%), followed by heart rate measurement (87.1%). 31.8% of participants reported that BP values measured by the smartphone application were "very accurate and helpful," while 63.5% rated them as "slightly lower (44.4%)" or "higher (19.1%)" compared to the standard home BP monitoring device. 93% of the participants reported utilizing the BP monitoring function at least once a week. Regarding the BP calibration process, most participants (93.9%) calibrated the BP measurement application themselves, and 50.8% rated the difficulty level as "very easy."

CONCLUSION

Cuffless BP measurement using a smartwatch application was feasible in the general population, including the self-calibration process. However, the satisfaction level in terms of accuracy is still modest, indicating a need for further development.