“There must be an APP for that” (heart health edition)

When smartphones first came along, my friends and I would always jokingly say, “there must be an app for that.”

Well, guess what?

There’s now an app for almost everything—and boy, are the platforms sophisticated. Especially when it comes to apps that help you monitor your own health.

Case in point: Let’s look at what some engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed…

Important health metric at your fingertips

Could we soon be saying arrivederci to standard at-home blood pressure (BP) monitors for patients carrying a smartphone?

That has at least become a possibility, thanks to a group of engineers who developed a simple, cost-efficient 3-D printed plastic clip that fits over a smartphone’s camera… along with a data-collecting app.

Here’s how it works…

First, the user would simply press their fingertip on the clip. (The app guides them on how hard and long to press.)

Next, the smartphone’s flash lights up the fingertip. The light then funnels through to the camera to generate an image of a red circle. The harder the user presses, the bigger the red circle appears.

And get this…

By simply looking at the size of the circle, the app can measure the amount of pressure that was applied. Then, by looking at the brightness of the circle, the app is programmed to measure the volume of blood going in and out of the fingertip.

Finally, an algorithm computes your systolic and diastolic BP readings.

Pretty cool, huh?

Easy and readily accessible

Many people get anxious when going to the doctor, which skews their BP reading upward. And sometimes, they’ll walk out of their office with a potentially unnecessary BP medication.

On the other hand, some folks don’t get accurate BP readings at home, either. (In my experience, it’s often because people have trouble putting on a cuff themselves.)

Now, I’m a big fan of checking BP. But I’m not a big fan of being obsessive about it.

That said, there ARE cases when it’s important to know how someone’s BP tracks overtime. So, I’ll ask patients to wear monitors for several weeks, which can be cumbersome and a nuisance.

Well, this type of device can revolutionize the process! And I think that’s pretty awesome.

I mean, it can make taking your BP at home super cheap, easy, and reliable. Better still, you’ll have a backlog of data stored and easily sent to anyone who may need to see it.

Plus, imagine going to a doctor’s office and coming home with a “free gift” … a BP clip. It would be just like going to the dentist and getting some toothpaste, only better!

All I can say at this point is, “What will they think of next?”

In the meantime, there are simple steps you can take to prevent, or reverse, America’s biggest killers—including high blood pressure. I outline a comprehensive plan in my Ultimate Heart-Health Protocol. Click here to learn more!

Source:

“Super low-cost smartphone attachment brings blood pressure monitoring to your fingertips.” MDLinx, 05/30/2023. (mdlinx.com/news/super-low-cost-smartphone-attachment-brings-blood-pressure-monitoring-to-your-fingertips/6LfeHrmC0JtYCA8eBNupvP)