Soon measure your Blood pressure with smartphone; research underway

NewsBharati    18-Mar-2018
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Washington, March 17: Measuring your blood pressure could one day be as simple as pressing your fingertip against the back of your smartphone and watching the results show up in a corresponding app.

A team of US researchers has developed a prototype device that can take real-time blood pressure readings using a smartphone case with embedded sensors, they report in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The researchers hope this type of easy-to-use device could improve rates of blood pressure measurement in the future.

"The idea is to try to make blood measurement so convenient that people will have the ability to readily make the measurement and that way we might be able to reduce the incidence of strokes and heart attacks," said the study's co-author Ramakrishna Mukkamala, of Michigan State University.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease, and is treatable with lifestyle changes and medication.

But a significant proportion of people with high blood pressure aren't aware of their condition, or struggle to keep it under control.

"Forty-five per cent of people in developed nations have hypertension and don't know it, and 55 per cent of people in developing nations have hypertension and don't know it," Professor Mukkamala said.