BME.15 – New Blood Pressure Device for Cardiovascular monitor for Home use5
Team Members Heading link
- Emily Bergeron
- Braun Errico
- William Giron
- Alice Liu
- Cindy Tang
Project Description Heading link
Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, causing 17.9 million deaths each year. Fortunately, cardiovascular events are oftentimes preventable with regular health monitoring, including knowledge of one’s blood pressure (BP). However, half the world lacks the most basic health services, and many more lack the literacy to monitor themselves. As a result, many people with heart disease do not realize they are experiencing a cardiovascular event until it is too late. Although there are many BP devices on the market, they are difficult to understand for those with little health knowledge. To resolve this gap, a new BP monitoring device has been developed for individuals with minimal medical literacy. The device consists of a pressure cuff, manual pump, and simple user interface. As the user pumps up and gradually deflates the cuff, the pressure transducer measures the systolic and diastolic BP values and mean arterial pressure (MAP) will be calculated. The value will correspond to a color arrangement of LEDs on the user interface that indicates the severity of one’s hypertension, allowing the user to make a judgment of whether they should seek medication attention even with minimal medical literacy. To verify the device’s functionality, its outputs will be compared to a manual and automatic BP cuff. Twenty subjects will have their BP measured three times with each device. The systolic, diastolic, and MAP values measured will be compared using an ANOVA, and additional t-tests will confirm the device’s reproducibility between BP results. This device will help patients better assess the state of their cardiovascular health to make the difficult decision between expending time and money to seek treatment or waiting out a potential cardiovascular event at home and risk death. The goal is to improve patients’ accessibility to their health data to prevent deaths from cardiovascular disease.