# Wearable Multi-modality Cuffless Blood Pressure Monitoring

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2021 · $595,683

## Abstract

Abstract
Continuous blood pressure (BP) is one of the most critical monitoring parameters during anesthesia, surgery
and in intensive care units (ICU). Both hypotension and hypertension can impair the function of vital organs
(e.g. brain, heart and kidneys), and intraoperative hypotension is associated with postoperative mortality, which
makes it important to detect BP changes as quickly as possible to prompt timely intervention or therapy.
However, the current gold standard technology for BP monitoring, an invasive arterial line (a-line), causes
patient suffering (physical pain) and increases the risk of infection. In the United States, about 80,000 blood
stream infections caused by an arterial catheter are reported annually. Due to the inherent risks associated
with a-line, it is used only for clinically indicated high risk surgeries or ICU patients. As a result of the a-line
risks and discomforts, even though more than 300 million surgeries are performed worldwide each year, only a
small portion receive continuous BP monitoring. In addition, although vital sign (ECG, pulse oximetry, BP etc)
monitoring is routine in surgical rooms and ICUs, currently most monitoring devices are fixed in individual
rooms, which result in gaps in patient monitoring, accidents during patient transport process, and extra work to
disconnect and reconnect sensors when leaving and entering a new facility. Seamless “continuum of care”
monitoring—for instance from surgical room to ICUs, including transport in between and without reconnecting
sensors—is on top of the wish list by clinician. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop portable
ECG monitors and “mobile ICUs”; however so far, no continuous and seamless BP monitoring has been
achieved. This proposal fully leverages the outcomes from the related R21 (EB022271) project. We will
develop novel machine learning and deep learning based data fusion algorithms to use existing vital signs for
continuous BP monitoring, then integrate them with our unique wearable patient monitoring system to form a
novel perioperative patient monitoring system. We will test the system’s performance against gold standard a-
line and Finapres BP technologies. to develop a fully functional technology for noninvasive, continuous, and
seamless BP monitoring. We will also develop a public database for future BP technology development. The
proposed multimodality algorithms, seamless BP monitoring system and PhysioNet database will provide
major steps forward to meet the clinical need for noninvasive continuous BP monitoring.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10121622
- **Project number:** 1R01EB027122-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** QUAN ZHANG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $595,683
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10121622

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10121622, Wearable Multi-modality Cuffless Blood Pressure Monitoring (1R01EB027122-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10121622. Licensed CC0.

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