RALEIGH – If you need to check your blood pressure routinely but don’t and want to do so on-the-go and without that big cuff, then Raleigh-based Valencell says it will be offering sensors soon for wearable devices that meet your demand for convenience without sacrificing data quality.
The emerging Raleigh entrepreneurial firm on Tuesday announced an expansion of what it calls “groundbreaking calibration-free, cuffless blood pressure (BP) technology for wearables.”
Valencell said the technology meets the desires of people who were surveyed about BP and convenience. It is seeking FDA clearance for the tech this year.
The national survey found that “62% of Americans with hypertension only measure their BP a few times a month or less, far below expert recommendations of twice daily,” Valencell noted.
“Our survey results solidify the next frontier in medical wearables, which is to make a measurable impact on the global hypertension crisis through passive technologies that people will actually use regularly,” said Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, co-founder of Valencell and the firm’s president.”Huge opportunities exist to ease the burden of blood pressure monitoring and reduce the cost of healthcare with non-invasive sensor technology embedded in devices people wear every day.”
Valencell says the technology, which was announced a year ago, has been updated to operate in smartwatches, fitness bands, patches and pulse oximeter finger clips/ It was originally released for use in hearing aids, “hearables” and other ear-based devices.
