Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a simple, low-cost clip that uses a smartphone’s camera and flash to instantly monitor blood pressure at the user’s fingertip.

The clip works with a custom smartphone app and could cost only 10 cents apiece when manufactured at scale.

“Because of their low cost, these clips could be handed out to anyone who needs them but cannot go to a clinic regularly,” said study senior author Edward Wang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego and director of the Digital Health Lab. “A blood pressure monitoring clip could be given to you at your checkup, much like how you get a pack of floss and toothbrush at your dental visit.”

The research was published today in Nature Scientific Reports.

Citation: Xuan, Y., Barry, C., De Souza, J., Wen, J. H., Antipa, N., Moore, A. A., & Wang, E. J. (2023). Ultra-low-cost mechanical smartphone attachment for no-calibration blood pressure measurement. Nature Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34431-1 (open access)

Let us know your thoughts! Sign up for a Mindplex account now, join our Telegram, or follow us on Twitter.