Tracking Blood Pressure Changes in Hypertension Management with a Cuffless Wearable Device
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Author
Proença, Martin
Bonnier, Guillaume
Ferrario, Damien
Zahnd, Joachim
Lemay, Mathieu
Wuerzner, Grégoire
DOI
10.1515/bmt-2025-1001
Abstract
Methods Each patient (8/15 female; 53 ± 17 years old; BMI: 30.8 ± 5.5 kg/m2) made four visits to the CHUV Hypertension Service over six weeks. During each visit, BP was estimated as the median of 5 to 7 consecutive measurements performed with both the cuff-based and cuffless devices on contralateral upper arms. Between-visit systolic and diastolic BP changes (ΔSBP and ΔDBP) were assessed for all patients and compared in terms of the mean ± standard deviation of the differences between the devices. The concordance rate (CR), defined as the percentage of significant BP changes (|ΔSBP| > 15 mmHg, |ΔDBP| > 10 mmHg) showing a concordant direction of change between both devices, was also assessed.
Results The agreement between the cuff-based and cuffless BP monitors was -2.6 ± 11.4 mmHg for ΔSBP and -1.7 ± 6.5 mmHg for ΔDBP. The CR on significant BP changes was 95.5% for SBP and 95.7% for DBP.
Conclusion CSEM’s wearable PPG-based cuffless BP monitor shows concordant tracking of week-to-month BP changes during antihypertensive therapy compared to an oscillometric device. These promising results, if confirmed over a larger sample size and against a gold-standard BP reference, could lead to a breakthrough in hypertension management. PPG-based wearable devices, such as smartwatches or armbands, allow 24/7 inconspicuous measurements, significantly improving on the current cuff-based BP management. A clinical study comparing CSEM’s cuffless device against a gold-standard two-observer auscultatory reference is currently ongoing.
Publication Reference
BMT 2025, Muttenz (Switzerland)
Year
2025-09-11