Samsung has already released smartwatches like Gear S, Gear Fit, and ICONX, allowing wearers to measure their heart rate. In the latest move, it has patented a technology that may help smartwatches to measure blood pressure.
Measuring blood pressure is a cumbersome method that requires the help of professionals. While invasive methods include measuring blood pressure through the arterial wall and can only be performed in hospitals, the simpler, non-invasive auscultatory and oscillometric measurements are low in accuracy. In the oscillometric method, the pressure created on the blood by the cuff worn by the patient causes an oscillation of the blood flow. This oscillation (pulse) is recorded to form an idea regarding the patient’s blood pressure.
The latest technology that Samsung will experiment with shall use light to measure a patient’s blood pressure. What this means is that the device shall irradiate a target region on the patient’s body (in case of smartwatches, the wrist), and determine the blood pressure based on the intensity of the light that shall scatter in the bloodstream below the target region.
Samsung’s latest technology will do away with cuffs and will try to increase accuracy by reducing noise due to the skin, capillary, or user motion. The only requirement that the users will have to follow while trying to measure their blood pressure is by using this smartwatch, ensuring that it sits tightly on the user’s wrist for better measurements, a requisite also necessary while measuring heart rate using pre-existing Samsung smartwatches.
While the drawings show designs similar to Samsung’s previous smartwatches and have been given the name Samsung Gear X, the company has not yet released any confirmation regarding the type of device that shall use this innovation. And since the technology has just been patented, it shall not be a part of Samsung Gear S4 or Gear Sport 2.
