Artificial “Wrist” Enables Design of Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors

Unfortunately, blood pressure (BP) measurements currently require the use of a cuff that temporarily stops blood flow. A wearable BP “watch” using today’s technology would squeeze the wrist every few minutes, making it impractical to use. A better method might gauge subtle pressure changes at the surface of the skin above one of the main wrist arteries — the radial artery — without regularly cutting off circulation. But before this new technology can be developed, there is a need to understand what the pressure inside a blood vessel looks like on the surface of the skin. This requires a physical model that can be used to test wearable devices in a laboratory.