I-Corps: Blood Pressure Monitoring by a Miniaturized Cuffless Sensor

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种可穿戴设备来测量血压。不受控制的高血压影响着惊人的1.16亿美国人，导致五分之一的人死于心脏病和中风。此外，在美国，先兆子痫影响了3%至5%的孕妇，可能导致癫痫发作和永久性器官损伤等严重后果。持续的血压监测可以显著降低这些风险，但目前的解决方案有局限性。袖带测量需要充气，并且仅在24-48小时内有效，而光学传感器由于对肤色、用户运动的敏感性和有限的穿透深度而不准确。所提出的技术是一种传感器和算法，可以集成到可穿戴设备中，以可靠、方便和经济高效的方式提供更高的数据准确性和改进的连续监控合规性。这可能为长期血压管理提供一种选择。这个I-Corps项目是基于皮下血压监测传感器和生物传感算法的发展。该技术采用微型非侵入式压电微机械超声换能器（PMUTs），集成了尖端的硅技术和生物传感算法。该技术已被证明具有卓越的环境抗性，利用超声波穿透更深的皮肤，具有竞争力的功耗和长期稳定性，并节省成本。此外，超声波波束成形确保了血管的精确定位，使该技术能够抵抗用户运动干扰。这些创新使得可穿戴设备的发展能够提供无创、无袖带的多种形式的解决方案，如手腕、胸部和手臂带。数据准确性的提高和用户依从性的提高使所提出的无袖带血压监测系统成为持续、长期血压管理的一种选择。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a wearable device to measure blood pressure. Uncontrolled hypertension impacts an alarming 116 million Americans, resulting in 1 in 5 deaths from heart disease and stroke. In addition, preeclampsia affects 3% to 5% of pregnancies in the US, potentially leading to severe consequences such as seizures and permanent organ damage. Continuous blood pressure monitoring significantly reduces these risks, but current solutions have limitations. Cuff measurement requires inflation and is only effective for up to 24-48 hours, while optical sensors are inaccurate due to sensitivity to skin tones, user motion, and limited penetration depth. The proposed technology is a sensor and algorithms that may be integrated into a wearable device, providing enhanced data accuracy and improved continuous monitoring compliance in a reliable, convenient, and cost-effective manner. This may provide an option for long-term blood pressure management.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a subcutaneous blood pressure monitoring sensor and biosensing algorithms. The proposed technology uses miniaturized non-invasive piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducers (PMUTs) integrated with cutting-edge silicon technology and biosensing algorithms. The technology has been shown to provide superior environmental resistance, deeper skin penetration using ultrasound, long-term stability with competitive power consumption, and cost savings. In addition, the ultrasound beamforming ensures precise targeting of blood vessels, making the technology resistant to user movement interference. These innovations have enabled the development of wearable devices offering non-invasive, cuffless solutions in versatile forms such as wrist, chest, and arm bands. Enhanced data accuracy and increased user compliance make the proposed cuffless blood pressure monitoring system an option for continuous, long-term blood pressure management.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.