The Impact of Innovation

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, has been a silent killer, and many people suffer from this condition. Half of these patients don't know they have high blood pressure and others have it under poor control. Hypertension is when a person's blood pressure is above 140/90 (NIH, 2020). It sometimes causes no symptoms, and if left untreated, it can cause health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and further damage to the kidneys. Intaking less sodium, exercising, and taking medications can help lower blood pressure. An innovation in health care that helps monitor blood pressure is wearable blood pressure monitoring known as BPM. These devices alarm patients with high blood pressure to reduce their efforts and provide their doctor with information (Arakawa, 2018).

BPM's are useful for diagnosing and monitoring hypertension, detecting cardiovascular risks, and having a complete picture of heart health (Dias & Cunha, 2018). The device looks just like a smartwatch. Many patients do not like the standard blood pressure monitors due to the discomfort and painful cuff inflation. When patients are ready to take their blood pressure, all they have to do is put their hand over their heart, and the watch will inflate just like blood pressure cuffs without the discomfort. When a patient's blood pressure is normal, the device will help them stay healthy to prevent episodes of stroke, hypertension, and low blood pressure (Dias & Cunha, 2018).

The device monitors blood pressure and includes activity tracking such as steps, calories, pulse, distance, and sleep. Blood pressure is taken during the night while patients are sleeping. It's beneficial because most strokes and heart attacks happen at night while patients are sleeping. It syncs with an app to track and share important information about patients' blood pressure with their providers. These devices provide better accuracy, efficiency, increase convenience, maximizes adherence, and reduce costs in improving health performance (Schoot et al., 2016).


References

Arakawa, T. (2018). Recent Research and Developing Trends of Wearable Sensors for Detecting Blood Pressure. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 18(9), 2772. Digital Object Identifier System


Dias, D., & Cunha, J. (2018). Wearable Health Devices-Vital Sign Monitoring, Systems and Technologies. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 18(8), 2414. Digital Object Identifier System


NIH. (2020). High Blood Pressure. Home | NHLBI, NIH


Schoot, T. S., Weenk, M., Van De Belt, T. H., Engelen, L. J. L. P. G., Van Goor, H., & Bredie, S. J. H. (2016). A New Cuffless Device for Measuring Blood Pressure: A Real-Life Validation Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(5), e85. Digital Object Identifier System