Found a new way to measure blood pressure at a very low cost, which is ... shooting video selfie

A team of researchers in Canada and China is studying a revolutionary new blood pressure measurement method that helps us to measure our own blood pressure through video selfie.

The research team at the University of Toronto and the hospital associated with Hangzhou Pedagogical University, China has just published a study showing that we can use smartphones to monitor blood pressure just by shooting a video short.

Traditional blood pressure measurement method.

Kang Lee, a psychologist at the University of Toronto and author of the study, said: "We are using technology called transcriptional transcriptional imaging technology . " Sharing with Quartz, Lee said, the team's idea is to use light emitted from smartphone cameras to detect proteins on the skin. Basically the light emitted from the smartphone's camera will turn on proteins near the skin surface at different speeds.

One of them is hemoglobin or hemoglobin , a blood protein. Just observing the slight changes in hemoglobin during the 30-second video with hundreds of frames, the researchers were able to measure blood pressure. Of course to measure, the team had to use machine learning algorithms to translate these measurements into blood pressure readings. According to the researchers, the algorithm's accuracy is up to 95%.

However, there is one interesting detail, which is that the test was conducted on a volunteer group of 1,328 people and up to 95% came from East Asia and Europe. This also means that the algorithm will not be accurate for people of color.

In theory, the above test should be compatible with all skin colors in the same way. In a fairer skin test, the test will examine the measurements of light reflected from proteins such as hemoglobin. However, it is not clear whether the test is influenced by other proteins such as melanin in people with darker skin.

We can use smartphones to monitor blood pressure just by shooting a short video.

Lee and the team admitted that they will still need to test this method on different skin colors.

If successful, this will be a cheap and suitable blood pressure measurement method for everyone. Thanks to that, everyone can take care of their own health at home without spending any money and money to visit and measure blood pressure.

High blood pressure , also called hypertension, is the number one cause of heart disease, such as stroke worldwide. An estimated 1.3 billion people globally have high blood pressure but not everyone knows about their illness. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high blood pressure kills more than 1.1 thousand people every day in the US alone.

Of course, hypertensive patients can completely prevent abnormal complications that can occur with a diet, scientific exercise. Besides, they need to constantly monitor blood pressure index to have timely intervention.