SEATTLE — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
From smartphone apps to watches, there is an increasing number of ways you can check your blood pressure, but some doctors are not ready to endorse them.
“They haven’t really been tested appropriately,” said Dr. Eugene Yang, professor and cardiologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Yang was the lead author of a study involving an international panel of researchers who weighed in on the new devices in “JAMA Cardiology.”
Traditional blood pressure methods use inflatable cuffs to detect vibrations in your arm’s brachial artery, giving clinicians an estimate of blood pressure.
UW cardiologist says smart devices rely heavily on AI to check blood pressure
Yang said smart devices, such as phones and watches, rely heavily on artificial intelligence. He added that the medical community needs to agree on how to test the newer technology and set standards.
Yang told KIRO Newsradio that, in the meantime, the AI in the various devices will need to consume much more data to help it learn how to properly interpret signals from the body, to determine an accurate blood pressure.
“If the device is underestimating BP, that may give someone a false sense of security and lead them to think their blood pressure is great when, in reality, it might be 20 points higher,” Yang explained in a statement from UW Medicine. “Conversely, a device may overestimate BP, and then patients may get stressed out unnecessarily.”
High blood pressure can lead to a series of health complications
High blood pressure, or hypertension, can lead to health complications such as a heart attack and stroke, so detecting it is important.
Yang said he does see a future in which patients will be able to use newer devices to better manage their health.
“Down the road, I think we can be optimistic about it, but we still have a while to go,” he shared.
For now, he said the traditional cuff method is the most reliable way to check your blood pressure.
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