ED 03-4 HIGH-TECH IN BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING: WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Rapid progress of mobile information technologies such as wearable sensors, wireless communication, and world-wide use of smartphone cause digital health innovations. In the field of hypertension, wearable blood pressure (BP) monitoring and its wireless transfer to anywhere through smartphone, mobile smartphone apps, and cuffless blood pressure monitoring system are expected to change the way of diagnosis and management of hypertension. Home BP monitoring would be easier and wireless data transfer to health care providers would be common. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of hypertension, precise monitoring of compliance on medication, better control of BP could be achieved. In addition, BP management strategy may be changed if cuffless BP measurement becomes popular because it can monitor BP continuously and avoid sleep-disrupting by cuff inflations at night. However, all the new technologies require strict validation in terms of accuracy, cost effectiveness, and privacy to become clinically useful. It takes a lot of time and money. But speed of the technology evolvement could be too fast to be validated clinically. Consequently, new paradigm may need in the era of digital health innovation.