Blood pressure monitoring might one day be as easy as taking a video selfie, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal.
Transdermal optical imaging measures blood pressure by detecting blood flow changes in smartphone-captured facial videos. Ambient light penetrates the skin’s outer layer allowing digital optical sensors in smartphones to visualize and extract blood flow patterns, which transdermal optical imaging models can use to predict blood pressure.
Researchers videoed just over 1,300 faces in a well-controlled environment with fixed lighting using an iPhone equipped with transdermal optical imaging software.
They compared systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure measurements captured from smartphone videos to blood pressure readings using a traditional cuff-based continuous blood pressure measurement device.
However, while the study’s participants had a variety of skin tones, the sample lacked subjects with either extremely dark or fair skin tones
Researchers used the data gathered to teach the technology how to accurately determine blood pressure and pulse from facial blood flow patterns.
They found that on average, transdermal optical imaging predicted systolic blood pressure with nearly 95% accuracy and diastolic blood pressure with pulse pressure at nearly 96% accuracy.
High blood pressure is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease— a leading cause of death and disability.
