Wearable ultrasound patch measures deep blood pressure

Most wearable medical devices can measure signals only on the surface of the skin or at very shallow levels below it. However, engineers from the University of California San Diego have now developed a method for using ultrasound in an adhesive patch to monitor blood pressure in deep arteries or veins.

"By integrating ultrasound technology into wearables, we can start to capture a whole lot of other signals, biological events and activities going on way below the surface in a non-invasive manner," said research leader Sheng Xu, a professor of nanoengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Described in Nature Biomedical Engineering, the device can measure central blood pressure at depths as great as 4 cm below the skin. Central blood pressure is different from the reading taken using an inflatable cuff, which is known as peripheral blood pressure. Central pressure relates to the vessels which carry blood directly from the heart to major organs, and is considered to be a more accurate reading and also better at predicting heart disease.