RESEARCHERS at Monash University have designed an alternative to the inflating “cuff” for measuring blood pressure.
Methods for measuring blood pressure have varied only slightly over the past century, but according to the Monash University researchers, it is possible to measure blood pressure by placing a few small sensors on the body.
Associate Professor Mehmet Yuce, a world leader in the field of Biomedical Engineering and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, is leading the development of this device, along with Monash PhD student Dilpreet Buxi and Dr Jean-Michel Redoute.
According to the researchers, the device is user-friendly and convenient for patients, providing unobtrusive, continuous monitoring.
The cuffless blood pressure monitor is intended to be worn all the time, even while sleeping, providing a constant stream of blood pressure information for monitoring and logging purposes.
The blood pressure monitoring device would be useable on the go, and according to the scientists there is a high demand for a cuffless monitor. They hope to start work on commercialising the product in the near future, once they have developed the concept from a lab-based setup to a wearable device.
Once finalised, the cuffless blood pressure estimation device will be easy to wear and, with wireless connectivity, will instantaneously communicate blood pressure results to doctors over the internet.