In a new patent application published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Apple details a next-gen blood pressure measurement system in a reconfigurable wristband, that could also include Apple Watch functionality (via Patently Apple).
The application covers ambulatory blood pressure measurement cuff and related methods that employ a support band that can be reconfigured via a control unit. The support band includes one or more reinforcement sheets embedded within a flexible band.
In the measurement configuration, the electrodes are energized so as to electrostatically bind the electrodes together. Once the blood pressure measurement is completed, the electrodes are de-energized which returns the support band back to the flexible standby configuration.
“The ambulatory blood pressure measurement cuffs, devices, and approaches described in the filing can be configured for use on any suitable limb of a user including, but not limited to, a user’s wrist, a user’s thigh, a user’s leg, a user’s arm, and a user’s upper arm.
Apple reveals that in some embodiments, the wrist-worn ambulatory blood pressure measurement device can be configured with watch and/or smart-watch functionality.”
Being a patent application, it remains unknown whether such a product will ever be commercially released.
