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This phone case can measure blood pressure

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By Daniel Petrov

Published: Mar 08, 2018, 9:02 AM

Samsung patented something eerily similar not long ago, but a new phone case in development will allegedly measure blood pressure with a sensor you press your finger against, instead of the cumbersome cuffs for your wrist or arm.

Samsung, in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will introduce an app on March 15, or, a day before the official S9 launch, which will let you log blood pressure readings made solely with the new and improved heart rate sensor on the back of the S9. There are plenty of apps in the Play store that use your camera and LED flash illumination to try and analyze the pressure readings. These usually show blood pressure that is too low, so Samsung's approach with the heart rate sensor may take precision a step up.

The blood pressure reading case in question uses a sensor as well, and an app that tells you how much pressure to apply on it, thus measuring the cut in blood flow to the finger, and extrapolating blood pressure readings. Co-developed by Ramakrishna Mukkamala, a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Engineering, the case took volunteer participants only two ties on average to start taking BP measurements.

Compared to finger cufflinks it was at least as accurate, but arm cuffs deviated from its results, so there is still work to be done when it comes to precision. The researchers patented the technology, and licensed it to Digitouch Health, so hopefully we'll have a commercial device launched soon, as it's a drag to lug around blood pressure measuring cuffs.

source: Science

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.