Development of a Wireless Wearable Holter to Measure Blood Pressure and Heart Rate for Telemedicine

A novel wireless wearable, Holter, was developed to automatically measure blood pressure and heart rate based on the principle of oscillometry. It offers two measuring modes: on-demand - users activate the measurements at will, and programmable - measurements are triggered automatically at a selected rate. The accuracy of the results was validated using a mercury plethysmograph and simulator. The results are uploaded to a cloud server for remote monitoring and immediate care from healthcare providers when necessary. The main device is secured to an inflatable cuff wrapping around the user's arm, consisting of a microprocessor control board and other electromechanical parts. Firmware was implemented to control the device's functioning and wirelessly handshake to a smartphone developed for iOS and Android platforms for activating the Holter, displaying data, and facilitating communication between patients, healthcare providers, and relatives. Hence, this Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem is useful in the LMIC society, where more and more adults not living with their parents can still care for them from a distance, and healthcare can be conveniently provided to patients living in remote areas. The collected data can be stored in a digital repository and utilized by artificial intelligence technology. The calibrated Holter accurately measured blood pressure under various conditions, including normal blood pressure, weak pulse, mild exercise, obesity, and tachycardia, except for arrhythmia, where significant inaccuracies were observed. Standard conditions resulted in higher accuracy, achieving 97.1% based on 300 samples, compared to 74.25% accuracy under arrhythmic conditions with 200 samples.