Scientists have created a strip the size of a postage stamp that can be worn to measure blood pressure continuously.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (who created the strip) reported in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering that it worked well in a trial conducted on more than 100 patients.
Keeping blood pressure normal (i.e. 80/120) helps protect against a range of diseases, from heart disease and stroke to kidney problems, dementia and vision loss. So people with high blood pressure use a cuff-and-meter device to measure their blood pressure.
Study co-author Sai Zhu said that traditional blood pressure measurements through a cuff can miss important patterns. But this strip provides continuous blood pressure data in the form of waves, which reveals detailed trends in blood pressure fluctuations.
This soft and flexible bandage sticks to the skin and can be applied to the arm.