# Development of a Highly Accurate Wrist/Ankle-Mount Non-invasive Blood Pressure Monitor for Neonatal Patients

> **NIH NIH R43** · JB HEALTHTECH, INC. · 2023 · $55,000

## Abstract

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
More than 340,000 neonates are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) each year in the United
States. Monitoring arterial blood pressure (BP) for them, particularly preterm low-birthweight newborns, can be
challenging. The oscillometric (OSC) brachial cuff is much less accurate in neonates than in adults because it
derives systolic and diastolic pressures using population-based ratios. With lower BP, neonates as a group are
statistically underrepresented in these ratios, thus their BP measurements tend to be erroneous. The standard
method for neonatal BP monitoring is via the umbilical arterial catheter (UAC). However, UAC fails to work for
approximately 10% of patients when both umbilical arteries are damaged or regressed after birth. For these
patients, there is no alternative available. UAC also carries significant risks, including thrombosis, hematomas,
infections, and even death. To address this unmet clinical need for neonatal BP monitoring, JB HealthTech, Inc.
(JBH) is developing a highly accurate non-invasive BP monitor neoBPTM that operates in 3 modes. Its
continuous mode provides high-fidelity arterial BP waveforms similar to UAC, to derive arterial pressures,
respiration rate, and a suite of hemodynamic parameters. Its intermittent mode gives a convenient BP snapshot
and heart rate, similar to OSC. Its periodic mode runs at predefined running/resting time intervals for any clinical
needs in between. neoBP is based on a volume clamp (VC) technology, which is advantageous over other
technologies, such as statistical modeling where neonates are underrepresented, less accurate devices with
airbags only, and cuffless devices depending on calibration with UAC or OSC for every use. Using a novel
closed-form theoretical framework without empirical elements, we dynamically build the patient-specific
pressure-volume function and solved a long-standing inaccuracy problem of the BP industry. We have
implemented the innovative algorithms on the prototype, initiated preliminary adult clinical testing, and filed four
US patent applications. JBH has strong engineering expertise in medical device development. We also have
partnered with neonatologists and cardiologists to benefit from their clinical experiences and insights. With this
diverse, complementary team, we will advance our device from prototype to practice. Our tasks for this Phase I
SBIR project include hardware redesigns and rigorous clinical tests. We will build our second-generation
hardware and neonatal cuffs, which meet product specification matrixes. We will also validate the accuracy of
neoBP against the standard of care UAC to demonstrate its feasibility. A successful comparative study in the
NICU will be the milestone for the project to advance to Phase II. neoBP would be the first highly accurate non-
invasive BP monitor in the NICU and provide a simple and reliable way to measure BP for all neonates. With
accuracy comparable to UAC, neoBP will elimina...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10773214
- **Project number:** 3R43HL164247-01A1S1
- **Recipient organization:** JB HEALTHTECH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Sharon X. Wang
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $55,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10773214

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10773214, Development of a Highly Accurate Wrist/Ankle-Mount Non-invasive Blood Pressure Monitor for Neonatal Patients (3R43HL164247-01A1S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10773214. Licensed CC0.

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