Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed an affordable, smartphone-connected gadget that can measure blood pressure. The device, named BPClip, is designed as a clip that attaches to a smartphone. It can be produced with a 3D printer, and each unit costs roughly 80 cents to manufacture.
The BPClip sits on the phone so that the opening aligns above the camera while the light guide rests over the phone’s flash. To use it, a finger is placed into the clip’s opening, and a spring inside the device provides resistance to enable readings with varying pressure.
When activated, the phone captures an image of the fingertip as a red dot. As the fingertip experiences more pressure, the dot grows and brightens in relation to the amount of blood flowing through the finger. By analyzing changes in the size and brightness of the red dot, the device estimates systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The researchers report that tests with BPClip produced results that matched those of conventional blood pressure monitors, demonstrating comparable accuracy.
Recent coverage has highlighted BPClip as a potential low-cost option for home health monitoring, offering a portable approach to tracking cardiovascular health outside traditional clinical settings.