THURSDAY, Nov. 21, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- A wearable patch the size of a postage stamp that can monitor blood pressure continuously could soon help people manage their hypertension . Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who developed the wearable ultrasound patch report Nov.
20 in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering that it has worked well in tests with more than 100 patients. Maintaining a normal blood pressure -- 120/80 -- helps prevent many illnesses, from heart disease and stroke to kidney problems, dementia and vision loss, so many patients with high blood pressure use a cuff-and-meter device to track their levels. "Traditional blood pressure measurements with a cuff, which are limited to providing one-time blood pressure values, can miss critical patterns," said study co-author Sai Zhou , who recently received his doctorate degree from the University of California, San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering.
"Our wearable patch offers continuous stream of blood pressure waveform data, allowing it to reveal detailed trends in blood pressure fluctuations," he added in a university news release. The soft, stretchy patch adheres to the skin and is worn on the forearm. An array of tiny transducers inside it send and receive ultrasound waves that track changes in the diameter of blood vessels.
These changes are then converted into blood pressure values. Developers said the patch produces results comparable not only to those of a standard blood pressur.