Domestic researchers have found a new solution that overcomes the limitations of wearable technology for measuring blood pressure. This is expected to be a significant step toward early detection of high blood pressure and realization of personalized healthcare.
A research team led by Professor Jeong Gi-hun of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on the 19th that they have developed a wearable sensor that can continuously monitor blood pressure during physical activity.
Recently, the blood pressure measurement feature of smartwatches uses a technique called "photoplethysmography (PPG)" that measures changes in blood flow in blood vessels by utilizing three wavelengths of light. When light is emitted from the PPG sensor to the skin, the amount of light absorbed varies with the blood volume, and the change in blood volume is calculated by measuring how much light has been absorbed. However, there were limitations in accuracy during high blood pressure states or exercise, making continuous measurement difficult.
The research team developed a "hyperspectral PPG" sensor that uses dozens of segmented wavelengths of light, unlike traditional PPG. By using various wavelength signals and precisely calculating time differences, they can reliably estimate blood pressure even during exercise. In addition to blood pressure, variables such as heart rate and respiratory rate are measured simultaneously.
Using the developed technology, the research team continuously tracked changes in blood pressure during exercise and detected exercise-induced hypertension. They noted, "Other detection methods had an estimation accuracy of about 0.75 for recovery blood pressure during exercise, but the hyperspectral PPG technology showed high reliability at 0.95."
Professor Jeong Gi-hun stated, "This is a case that proves that the wearable hyperspectral PPG sensor can play a crucial role in measuring blood pressure during exercise and tracking recovery blood pressure based on new data obtained from high blood pressure experiments conducted during exercise." He added, "Hyperspectral PPG technology will significantly contribute to the future field of personalized digital healthcare."
The results of this study were published in the international academic journal "Advanced Science" on April 25th.
References
Advanced Science (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202417625