# An Unobtrusive Continuous Cuff-less Blood Pressure Monitor for Nocturnal Hypertension

> **NIH NIH R01** · TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION · 2020 · $766,675

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The objective of this project is to create an unobtrusive, wrist-worn, cuff-less blood pressure monitor for measurement and
identification of nocturnal nondipping hypertension. The investigation includes extensive validation with state-of-the-art
ambulatory blood pressure monitors at nighttime in presence of heterogeneous treatment paradigms. Cardiovascular
disease (CVD) is one of the major causes of ailments worldwide. Hypertension alone affects one in three adults according
to the World Health Organization. Therefore, monitoring blood pressure has become a critical part of healthcare as it is
known to be linked to many CVDs. Traditionally, clinical practitioners have relied on the mercury-based (or digital
equivalent) inflatable cuff-based sphygmomanometer. However, the nature of the device allows for only infrequent
measurements and its somewhat invasive nature and associated discomfort prohibits additional nocturnal measurements.
There is certainly a value to measuring blood pressure continuously in the natural context of the user’s environment, in
particular during sleep, without being disturbed by the instrument. Our proposed technology can provide a wealth of
information to physicians, help identify certain short-term dynamics/variations of blood pressure, and allow effective
monitoring of response to medication, among other things. Nocturnal measurements provide additional prognostic value
in identifying risk. Despite these benefits, no wearable, non-invasive device for continuous blood pressure monitoring
exists on the market simply because none have been reliable enough to be considered clinical grade. This project aims to
develop a robust and reliable blood pressure monitor in the form of a wrist-worn device that uses bio-impedance sensors,
and for the first time, demonstrate clinical grade reliability. These sensors measure pulse wave velocity (PWV) along with
several other derivatives for cardiovascular parameters including heart rate and blood volume changes in arteries, which
correlate with the blood pressure. The system will incorporate clever hardware design to localize underlying vasculature
and focus on arterial sites for enhanced accuracy. The device will include a motion sensor to take into account the user’s
movements and motion artifacts, the contact quality, and reliability of the measurements. Advanced machine learning
techniques, leveraging both general and personalized models, will be developed to convert bio-impedance measurements
to blood pressure. This project aims to then validate the system and analytics in both a healthy patient cohort and a
hypertensive cohort, learning the impact that nocturnal ‘nondipping’ hypertension and anti-hypertensive treatments have
on PWV/other cardiovascular correlates and blood pressure estimates. After decades of relying on the inflatable cuff-
based technique, this system could represent a significant change in how we measure blood pressure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9998433
- **Project number:** 1R01HL151240-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Roozbeh Jafari
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $766,675
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9998433

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9998433, An Unobtrusive Continuous Cuff-less Blood Pressure Monitor for Nocturnal Hypertension (1R01HL151240-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9998433. Licensed CC0.

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