Medical giant Omron Healthcare is showing off a blood pressure monitor that you can wear as a wristwatch and that can deliver clinically validated accuracy. The Japanese company has also created a digital platform to track and store heart health data and easily share it with your physician.
I’ve been hoping for the past decade that someone would make something like this, but the challenge in miniaturizing the tech hasn’t been trivial. Many companies have shied away from adding such a feature to heart rate monitors because of concerns about regulatory approval.
The Omron HeartGuide is a wearable blood pressure monitor that can also track sleep quality and daily activity and fits into a 25-millimeter band.
The company, which has four decades of experience making blood pressure monitors, said it filed over 50 new technology patents on the components developed for the HeartGuide, all to do with the miniaturization of blood pressure pumps, valves, and chips. Some of the components are no larger than a grain of rice.
Omron Healthcare is also showing a new version of the Omron Connect App, which syncs via Bluetooth with every connected Omron blood pressure monitor. You can store, track, and share your heart health data with your doctor. The new app is easy to navigate and graphs data for easier and unlimited monitoring. This app will be out on February 1, 2018.
Omron’s mission Going for Zero is to eliminate heart attacks and strokes. The monitor will be out in the fall of 2018, and the price will be determined later.