Instead of a tonometer and a heart monitor
Electronic tattoo accurately and continuously measures blood pressure
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Scientists have presented a breakthrough technology that is needed by millions of people around the world. They have developed an electronic tattoo made of graphene, which independently assesses the level of blood pressure in any situation. The authors assure that the convenience and accuracy of tattoos surpass the existing popular solutions integrated, for example, into smart watches.
Blood pressure monitors with cuffs remain the standard for assessing blood pressure, but most often people use them when they feel unwell. Continuous monitoring is very important for maintaining health, especially against the background of stable statistics — cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide.
To solve this problem, a group of researchers from the United States has developed an electronic tattoo that allows you to measure blood pressure in any situation without human intervention: during severe stress, sleep, sports, etc., according to a press release University of Texas at Austin.
Article by Kireev et al. Continuous cuffless monitoring of arterial blood pressure via graphene bioimpedance tattoos is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Their technology has become a much more accurate and convenient alternative to smart gadgets such as watches or bracelets.
In them, metal sensors use readings based on LED light sources penetrating through the skin. Firstly, such a method cannot be universal for people with different skin colors. Secondly, the sensors can "hang out" on the wrist and be far from the arteries, which makes it difficult to obtain accurate data.
The electronic tattoo is comfortable to wear on the wrist — the graphene sensor is weightless and invisible. The device makes measurements by sending an electric current through the skin, and then analyzes the body's reaction, known as bioimpedance – the electrical resistance of biological tissues. There is a correlation between bioimpedance and blood pressure associated with changes in blood volume, explain the authors, who developed an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyze this relationship.
"The accuracy of blood pressure measurement by tattoo exceeds almost all available options on the market today," the scientists said.
They plan that the technology will provide a solution for healthy people who want to monitor a key indicator of the cardiovascular system, as well as for patients with risks or the presence of hypertension. It has not yet been reported on the expected timing of the availability of the technology for mass use.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru