OPRHealth

 01  What are the differences between 24BP and ABPM?

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There are many similarities and some differences between these two products that center on the role of patients and clinicians. The 24BP product was designed to be easier for patients to use and understand the results. Reports are crafted to help patients understand the implications of their blood pressure profile, potential hypertension, and implications. It can be used as an over-the-counter product by patients wanting to benchmark and understand their blood pressure using the latest and most innovative technologies available. Patients who use the product can take their profile reports, which are sent to the cell phones used during monitoring, to their physician for further interpretation and follow-up.  The 24BP product can also be used by doctors that don’t have a dedicated hypertension practice to help their patients see and understand their blood pressure profiles, craft a targeted hypertension treatment strategy, and verify treatment efficacy.

 

The ABPM system was designed for clinical settings and comes with a management console that supports clinician and nurse roles. It generates detailed, clinically centered patient blood pressure and hypertension profiles structured to help clinicians develop targeted treatment and management strategies.  Profile reports are sent to the clinician and are stored in the management console to make it easier for doctors to compare results over time. The 24BP and ABPM use the same sensor and benefit from shared analytical systems including artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. The primary differences center on their intended uses as consumer vs. clinician-centered products.

 

 02  Can the small patch-sensor be used multiple times?

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This is a reasonable question in light of traditional blood pressure meters. It also suggests a basic misunderstanding of the purpose, functions, and benefits of Biobeat’s blood pressure sensor, 24BP product, and ABPM system. In terms of hypertension, clinicians recognize that single blood pressure measurements are not clinically useful. That’s because blood pressure is subject to many internal and external influences that can raise and lower values moment by moment. This is why they average multiple readings taken on different days and times to benchmark their patients’ blood pressure. Biobeat’s cuffless 24BP and ABPM systems measure, trend, and profile blood pressure by unobtrusively taking 96 readings over a 24-hour period. These readings also capture the underlying components of blood pressure: cardiac output, stroke volume, mean arterial pressure, and systemic vascular resistance.  The resulting comprehensive profiles arm patients and their doctors with the information and insights to evaluate blood pressure control, diagnose hypertension, assess underlying factors, and develop effective, targeted treatment strategies.

 

In practice, this means that patients and their doctors don’t need multiple blood pressure profiles to benchmark blood pressure and diagnose hypertension. The 96 measurements taken by Biobeat’s small sensor over twenty-four hours and the systems’ comprehensive analysis deliver more clinically relevant information and insights than cuff-based instruments can after weeks of daily measurements. The 24BP and ABPM systems allow clinicians to evaluate each patient’s blood pressure and hypertension, develop targeted treatment strategies, and verify treatment efficacy in one-tenth the time of legacy cuff-based alternatives.

 

 03  What factors affect blood pressure & blood pressure readings

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There are many internal and external factors that affect blood pressure and can lead to false hypertension diagnoses. These include running and exercise, climbing stairs, hot showers, anger, frustration, excitement, fear, foods, medicines, supplements, etc. Many patients’ blood pressures increase during doctor visits, a condition called white coat syndrome. Cuff-based instruments, including electronic blood pressure meters, are also affected by a variety of factors including cuff size, cuff placement, sensor location, and arm position. Moreover, blood pressures naturally vary during the day, at night, and during sleep.  There are many others, but these should demonstrate how deceptively difficult measuring and benchmarking blood pressure with legacy instruments can be. 

 

To circumvent some of these influences, clinicians have relied on multiple (3-5) blood pressure readings taken over multiple days. Their objective is to diminish the effects of temporary influencers like exercise and emotional state by averaging the set of readings. Unfortunately, some influences like white coat syndrome are unlikely to diminish over time and will affect all the blood pressure measurements and heart rate values in the set.  In addition, taking single readings over a period of days will not profile blood pressures during different periods of the day and particularly during sleep. It’s an important consideration because elevated blood pressures at night and during sleep have been correlated with cardiovascular disease and other complications. By contrast, Biobeat’s 24BP and ABPM systems measure and trend blood pressure over 24 hours and break down trends by different periods of the day, evening, and night.   

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 04  How is blood pressure measured with a cuff?

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Clinicians using cuff-based blood pressure instruments rely on the disruption and restart of blood flow in a major artery to measure blood pressure. The cuff, usually placed just above the elbow, inflates and compresses the brachial artery that supplies blood to the upper arm muscles and elbow joint. Clinicians feel the pulse and listen through their stethoscope until blood flow stops. They then slowly release the cuff’s pressure while sensing for blood flow to restart, at which point, they read the sphygmomanometer (blood pressure device) display to obtain the systolic pressure.  This is the pressure generated by the contraction of the left ventricle of the heart and the larger of the two blood pressure values.

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The clinician continues releasing the cuff pressure while listening for the telltale sounds of diastolic blood flow, at which point they similarly read the diastolic pressure, the second and lower blood pressure value. For example, in a blood pressure measurement of 120/80, the 120 represents the systolic and the 80 the diastolic blood pressure. Electronic instruments follow a similar procedure but use an electronic sensor to detect and resolve the two pressure numbers and pulse rates.

 

 05  How do Biobeat sensors measure blood pressure? 

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Biobeat’s innovative cuffless blood pressure products are based on the science of photoplethysmography (PPG), which describes an optical technique that can detect blood volumetric changes in peripheral circulation. Biobeat’s scientists and engineers exploited PPG in designing the company’s innovative, low-cost sensors, and software. PPG was first investigated during the 1930s to study blood volume in small vessels called arterioles, capillaries, and venules. These microvessels regulate the blood flow that perfuses tissues and organs. Biobeat sensors utilize light waves to detect changes in blood volume caused by systemic blood flow. This innovative design made Biobeat the first company to deliver an FDA-listed cuffless blood pressure sensor.

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Biobeat’s solutions are based on more than sensors. They also exploit innovative analytics and artificial intelligence to interpret and extract clinically relevant information from raw patient measurements. It led to the first comprehensive improvements in blood pressure measuring and profiling since sphygmomanometers were introduced over a century ago.  The 24BP and ABPM systems, unlike their cuff-based predecessors, can evaluate the components of blood pressure and other vitals to give clinicians unprecedented insights into each patient’s unique blood pressure profile.