We've seen some wild ideas when it comes to
blood pressure -- including, yes,
underpants -- but this newest device, a small monitor attached to the hand, which can be worn 24 hours a day for continuous monitoring, strikes us as having the potential for extreme usefulness. The monitor works differently than regular old blood pressure cuff, using a method called pulse wave velocity, which measures the pulse at two points along an artery. Built by a team of engineers at MIT, this prototype could boast a lot of advantages over monitors, including its portability, its ability to see long-term patterns of rises and falls in pressure, and of course -- you wouldn't have to be at the doctor's office to use it -- which is bound to take a little stress out of the equation. The device is moving toward commercial production and Harry Asada, leader of the MIT team, sees the possibility for monitoring conditions such as sleep apnea in the future as well.
posted Apr 10th 2009 2:43PM
I think that device is choking that mans pinkie.
His pinky does look quite purple.
as he test his blood pressure after he wanks with that hand
We built something similar to this in college (Georgia Tech) for a bioinstrumentation course.
What we did was use a simple circuit mechanism to close a sphigmomanometer (BP cuff) on the thumb or bicep which would then slowly release and return the auscultatory vibrations from the eventual blood passage through the cuff.
It was small, cheap, and ultimately for a grade, so we didn't bother patenting the idea. Oops.
Shame. It'd be nice to have a few more GT wins over MIT.
Two words: Prior art. Bust MIT's patent wide open!
"portable and fashionable"
I thought that was hilarious
I'm gonna get one for each arm! And I don't even have blood pressure problems!
One step closer to Terminator.
I am Locutus of Borg.
It turned his pinky finger purple. No thank you.
"Shoots a web... any size..."
hahaha. glorious
Some of the folks arguing in the "Microsoft Ad" comment threads could take advantage of something like this.
I don't get the point of this device. If you're blood pressure is so volatile that you need this device, you already know you have a serious problem, so what is it that you're trying to do by wearing it? The device itself doesn't maintain a stable blood pressure, so it's not as if it has some protective or therapeutic effect. And blood pressure can already be measured remotely. I suppose it could be used for biofeedback exercises, but can't that be done already, without further investments that just drive up the cost of health care? The cost/benefit of health care in this country is much less favorable in this country (the USA) than many others already, why make it worse?
it helps if you at least RTFA
", its ability to see long-term patterns of rises and falls in pressure"
In the ICU's they have devices that go in your arteries that measure your blood pressure.
They also have (in the hospitals) an automated blood pressure cuff that measures your blood pressure and pulse at regular intervals.
It looks like some kind of weapon MacGyver would put together on the fly. A makeshift stun-gun or something. Man...MacGyver was so awesome.
Such a device already exist in the market. http://www.healthstats.com/en/bpro-intro.html
Just the thing for the Borg on the go.
aren't forearm measurements a lot less accurate than upper arm measurements?
...embarrassed by the sight of her blood pressure monitor, Mrs Smith, who suffers from high blood pressure, had a stroke earlier today and died.
Sorry to break it to you but they already exist, My doctor sent me home with one last year and it looks alot better than this monster.
fashionable? well try wearing this at the airport and you'll get surrounded by security guards, never mind the fashion "runway" (excuse the pun)...
It looks more robotic but I feel that wearing such a device for almost 24 hours would be not easy at all.
Designed by Peter Parker?
This should be built into an iPhone arm band that transmits data to an iPhone app. You could then merge, map and analyze this data along with all the other data collected from heart monitors and foot pods. This would give athletes unprecedented feedback for conditioning and optimum performance.