Sky Labs’ paper on cuffless blood pressure measurement technology, titled “Continuous cuffless blood pressure monitoring using photoplethysmography-based PPG2BP-net for high intrasubject blood pressure variations,” has been published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal.
The research focuses on developing deep learning algorithms for big data analytics in blood pressure measurement. The algorithm model effectively learns the dynamic changes in PPG features according to blood pressure variations. Through this research, Sky Labs has made significant advancements in PPG-based blood pressure estimation accuracy.
Continuous, comfortable, and convenient blood pressure (BP) measurement and monitoring are crucial for the early diagnosis of various cardiovascular diseases. Sky Labs’ cuffless blood pressure measurement algorithm utilized a large dataset of 4,185 subjects, enabling the algorithm to learn various PPG patterns and optimize blood pressure measurement technology. The subjects were divided into separate training, validation, and testing sets to improve blood pressure estimation and prevent overfitting. This approach ensures that the algorithm delivers reliable BP results for anyone using it. To enhance accuracy performance, Sky Labs utilized PPG signals acquired from patient monitoring with significant variations in blood pressure, avoiding overqualification in a calibration-based BP estimation model.
This innovative technique allows the algorithm to cater to general users with highly fluctuating blood pressure throughout the day and night. Sky Labs’ ring-type medical device, called “CART-I BP,” can continuously measure and monitor blood pressure without user intervention when worn on the finger. It is expected to broaden the scope of hypertension management by providing accurate measurements for challenging scenarios such as nocturnal hypertension, morning surge, and blood pressure variability. The blood pressure monitoring feature received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Korean FDA) in March and is slated for release by the end of this year.
The research showcases a revolutionary blood pressure measurement technology suitable for everyday use. The paper can be accessed on the SCIENTIFIC REPORTS website (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35492-y).
Jack Lee, CEO of Sky Labs, said, “CART-I BP has high potential to improve hypertension awareness, treatment, and management, enabling early prediction of cardiovascular events.” He added, “Hope this research will bring us a step closer to providing better blood pressure management for the approximately 1.28 billion hypertension patients around the world.”
