Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In cardiovascular care, the blood pressure of patients is therefore frequently measured, even over longer periods. Within this project, FreeSense Solutions and Medace aim to develop a prototype of a non-invasive, continuous and comfortable blood pressure measurement based on PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG). We focus on use for perioperative (home)patients, mainly patients recovering from – or in the run-up to – cardiovascular surgery. Costs can be saved by 1. properly preparing the patient through home training based on cardio sensing, 2. accurate post-operative monitoring so that a well-considered hospital discharge can be expedited for one or more days and then 3. at home monitoring to establish early diagnosis of abnormalities and separate post-operative stress from medical complications to avoid unnecessary, costly emergency room visits. Since it involves continuous blood pressure monitoring, the solution must be much more comfortable (and unconscious) than the usual arm-cuff measurement. This project combines PPG measurement using a small ear sensor and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to continuously reconstruct blood pressure. Research is also being done into quality systems and the deployability of AI under the new European Medical Device Regulation (MDR).

The project is supported by regional funds from MIT-Zuid.