New bandage-like wearable monitor to enable continuous measurement of BP

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) A team of Korean researchers has developed a wearable electronic device that attaches to the skin like a bandage and enables real-time, continuous monitoring of blood pressure (BP) over extended periods.

Conventional cuff-based blood pressure monitors that use an inflatable air bladder to apply pressure to the arm. But the new technology developed by Seoul National University team, continuously measures BP with a compact, flexible electronic patch, garnering global attention for its convenience and innovative design.

"This research challenges the conventional belief that blood pressure measurement is inconvenient and sufficient only once a day," said Professor Seung Hwan Ko from the varsity.

"Our system proposes a new health care interface capable of detecting and analyzing physiological signals non-invasively and in real time," Ko added, in the paper published in the online edition of Advanced Functional Materials.

Globally, only 21 per cent of the estimated 1.3 billion people with hypertension effectively manage the condition, posing a major public health concern.

The team tackled this by devising a continuous BP monitoring technology based on the observation that the time it takes for electrical signals (electrocardiogram) and mechanical signals (pulse) generated simultaneously in the heart to reach the wrist varies depending on blood pressure.

They implemented a model that continuously measures systolic and diastolic blood pressure by precisely detecting the two signals with each heartbeat and analysing the results.

As it is not easy to detect subtle changes in the skin caused by blood flow, the team took designed an electronic device that naturally adheres to the patient's skin using a unique material called liquid metal.

Liquid metal, which remains in a liquid state even at room temperature and conducts electricity well, is suitable as a material for this electronic device because it has the same elasticity as skin.

However, as liquid metal has very high surface, the researchers devised a unique process called "laser sintering."By using this method, which involves heating finely dispersed liquid metal particles with a laser to fuse them together, it is possible to draw circuits only at specific desired locations.

In addition, the team confirmed through experiments that the device maintains its performance even when stretched to 700 per cent of its original length or repeatedly stretched more than 10,000 times.

--IAN

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