Blood pressure device in the form of Earbuds
Blood pressure device in the form of Earbuds
Earbuds and AI technologies in Medical Sciences
The University of Toronto's institutional
strategic initiative TRANSFORM HF has awarded a seed grant to Mariakakis, an
assistant professor in the department of computer science in the Faculty of
Arts & Science, for his project "Accessible Blood Pressure Estimation
with Earbuds." TRANSFORM HF develops point-of-care diagnostics, wearables,
and AI technologies to monitor and proactively treat people with heart failure.
Blood pressure cuffs are the gold
standard for blood pressure assessment, but they can only be used on occasion:
Someone has to sit down, put the cuff on their arm, and remain still to
complete the measurement. This procedure can be unmanageable and people might
not wear the cuff properly or listen to the official protocol for measurement.
And, of course, people must own blood pressure cuffs for self-monitoring at
home.
The professor who invented the technology
of earbuds that can monitor your blood pressure aims to remove the cost of a
cuff blood pressure machine, apart from the machine cost he wants, people can
enjoy the ease of their homes while getting information about their blood
pressure. The AI based earbuds not just assist in blood pressure analysis but
also self-management of heart failure.
Most of the earbuds have the facility of
noise cancelling, the technology works on the idea of a double microphone, one
outside, and another inside, the outer one cancels the voice, and the inside
one picks interesting sounds of the heart and body. The researcher demonstrated
that the inside body sounds recorded by the inside microphone can be used to
record a heartbeat similar to a stethoscope. The incorporation of heart rate
with different signal processing techniques will help in getting to know about
blood pressure.
How do these earbuds work?
The benefit of using earphones to monitor
blood pressure is that people wouldn't have to change their activities. Simply
by wearing the earbuds, the in-ear microphone would record audio and send it
over Bluetooth to your smartphone, which would then evaluate the heart rhythm
to assess your blood pressure. You could be shown that data or the medical team
can also use it.
This technology will work with any earbud
that possesses an in-ear microphone. So, the technology will operate as long as
patients already own active noise-cancelling earbuds!
A quiet atmosphere will be vital for
effective use because heart sounds can be quite delicate and earphones can be
deployed in loud environments. People who stay at their home can utilize it
quite well without spending fortune of money on plenty of devices.
REFERENCE
Adams, R. (2018, May 11). Education leaders oppose Tory plans to
expand grammar schools. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/may/11/education-leaders-oppose-tory-plans-to-expand-grammar-schools
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