Keeping a watch on blood pressure
Hypertention is a causative factor behind cardiovascular diseases, strokes and kidney diseases that eat up 10 % of total global health spending. However, an estimated 47 % of hypertensive patients have uncontrolled BP mainly because existing devices on the market are not cuffless, continuous, comfortable and accurate. A new approach to measure BP The BP24 project has developed a wearable medical device for non-invasive, cuffless, continuous and highly accurate BP monitoring, specifically targeting patients with hypertension and inpatients. As project coordinator Mr Elon Rachman explains, “Coordinating company Vita Sentry’s proprietary core technology enables a unique approach that takes into account the vascular tone to compute the value of BP, instead of simply estimating it from the measure of the blood flow.” By detecting the diameter of arteries and arterioles with an accuracy of 0.5 μm over a measurement range, BP24 is a unique wearable intended for highly accurate, gold standard BP monitoring. “Therefore, not only can it be used by patients with hypertension, but in the future, it will be used in patients undergoing surgeries – and the company’s efforts are directed towards that objective,” Rachman adds. Market analysis The message was loud and clear from discussions with the whole range of potential end-users – GPs and doctors in hospitals and clinics, and hypertension societies and their members. All stakeholders desired more cost-effective, more accurate, easier to use, and non-invasive or less-cumbersome methods of monitoring BP continuously. BP24 members decided the best business model was to sell through e-retailers rather than physicians to reach a much wider global market. This will create a more viable method of scaling-up the BP24 solution and selling it to future markets. ”We found that GPs and physicians recommend the solution to their patients, even if we don’t approach them as a distributor of our solution, as it is a highly effective solution that will help to save their patients’ lives and keep them healthier,” Rachman points out. Eliminating problems of current devices Finalisation of the minimum value product (MVP) came through stakeholder feedback, the majority being potential customers. The solution is therefore designed to accommodate and solve all problems with current devices. This resulted in the use of easily accessible components as part of the MVP, and a definite list of features to be present in the MVP. The combination of conveniently available parts and a world-renowned subcontracting manufacturer with much experience in e-health devices, smartwatches, and wearables is a springboard for successful development. The resulting industrialisation plan allows for a high level of quality when scaling-up to an international level. The value chain was defined in the feasibility study, as the project researchers scouted all possible stakeholders. Fast forward to the future for wearable health alerts Recent expansion in the personal e-health devices market heralds a sector that continues to grow. BP monitors are a very large global market – USD 2 billion in 2014 – and the largest segment is the self-monitoring BP devices, at over 45 % market share in 2014, and a compound annual growth rate of 10.3 % from 2015 to 2023. “Despite this, no wearable BP device has successfully reached commercialisation and made accurate BP measurements widely available, leaving a great opportunity for us to take advantage of,” says Rachman. The use of notifications to alert the user and physician to when BP levels are exceeded will help to improve that specific patient’s care. As such, the BP24 solution fits very well into these future projections, making it a prime time for market introduction of the BP24 solution.
Keywords
BP24, blood pressure (BP), hypertension, wearable, self-monitoring, cuffless