Automatic and continuous blood pressure monitoring via an optical-fiber-sensor-assisted smartwatch

Abstract

Automatic and continuous blood pressure monitoring is important for preventing cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. The evaluation of medication effects and the diagnosis of clinical hypertension can both benefit from continuous monitoring. The current generation of wearable blood pressure monitors frequently encounters limitations with inadequate portability, electrical safety, limited accuracy, and precise position alignment. Here, we present an optical fiber sensor-assisted smartwatch for precise continuous blood pressure monitoring. A fiber adapter and a liquid capsule were used in the building of the blood pressure smartwatch based on an optical fiber sensor. The fiber adapter was used to detect the pulse wave signals, and the liquid capsule was used to expand the sensing area as well as the conformability to the body. The sensor holds a sensitivity of -213µw/kPa, a response time of 5 ms, and high reproducibility with 70,000 cycles. With the assistance of pulse wave signal feature extraction and a machine learning algorithm, the smartwatch can continuously and precisely monitor blood pressure. A wearable smartwatch featuring a signal processing chip, a Bluetooth transmission module, and a specially designed cellphone APP was also created for active health management. The performance in comparison with commercial sphygmomanometer reference measurements shows that the systolic pressure and diastolic pressure errors are -0.35 ± 4.68 mmHg and -2.54 ± 4.07 mmHg, respectively. These values are within the acceptable ranges for Grade A according to the British Hypertension Society (BHS) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). The smartwatch assisted with an optical fiber is expected to offer a practical paradigm in digital health.