BPatch - Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring

Research

Blood pressure is one of the most important vital values that can be measured. High blood pressure leads to conditions that are among the top 10 diseases with the most years of life lost, think of strokes, heart attacks and heart failure. UMCG has partnered up with 2M Engineering, TracXon and TNO at Holst Centre to develop the BPatch that allows to measure blood pressure continuously, thus giving much more valuable information about the behaviour of blood pressure in time.

Currently, blood pressure is measured by a separate, single measurement. However, blood pressure fluctuates due to exercise, stress or the natural circadian day/night rhythm. A snapshot therefore provides a very poor representation of the actual course of a patient’s blood pressure.

During this project, the project partners will work together to develop a blood pressure patch, called the BPatch, which will enable continuous blood pressure measurement. By using the intended BPatch, it will be possible to monitor blood pressure in a non-invasive way for a longer period of time (up to 14 days continuously). This ensures the availability of essential information about the patient’s well-being, enabling faster and better care to be provided. The project therefore has a significant impact on the health transition. Medication can be set at a personal level and preventive measures can be taken earlier (e.g. adjusting lifestyle). Because there is insight into the blood pressure pattern, the effect of the treatment can be made transparent and adjustments can be done instantly.

Relevance

How our research benefits to society

With more than 1.4 million people in the Netherlands with hypertension, €6.5 billion in blood pressure-related medical costs annually, and 17.9 million deaths worldwide every year that can be related to cardiovascular disorders, there is great demand for a technology that can perform a continuous blood pressure measurement cheaply and easily. When a continuous measurement is possible, insight is obtained into the blood pressure pattern, which provides much more insight than the blood pressure at one time of the day. A disturbance of the blood pressure pattern can be used as an indicator of the development of various diseases and disorders, can be used to act preventively and to improve the treatment of disorders. Introduction of the study. A large audience has to be able to read and understand it.

2M Engineering is a privately-owned SME with state-of-the-art expertise in sensors, applied in the fields of wearables, medical devices and industrial and environmental IoT solutions. Our mission is to develop technologies and products that contribute to a healthier and more sustainable world. We support our clients in (part of) their journey from idea to product development, certification (CE, ATEX, MDR) and production.

At Tracxon we transform Hybrid Printed Electronics from a niche technology to a mainstream cradle-to-cradle manufacturing technology through continuous process and product innovation. We specialize in the manufacturing of Hybrid Printed Electronics using sheet-to-sheet (S2S) and roll-to-roll (R2R) printing and component assembly. We are a value chain partner to co-design, prototype, pilot manufacture and go all the way to mass production.

Holst Centre is a research and innovation partner specialised in health technologies, flexible and wireless electronics, powered by the shared expertise of imec and TNO.