Biospectal, a remote patient monitoring and biosensing software company, has announced the alpha launch of Biospectal OptiBP for iOS at MWC Barcelona 2021.
Backed by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and Innosuisse, Biospectal OptiBP empowers people worldwide with a medical-grade software that integrates directly into the ubiquitous smartphone already in their pocket, enabling instantaneous blood pressure measurement and monitoring, anytime and anywhere.
The alpha launch of Biospectal OptiBP for iOS follows the public beta launch of Biospectal OptiBP for Android announced earlier this year at CES 2021.
The World Health Organisation estimates 1.13Bn people worldwide have hypertension. Dubbed the “silent killer,” only one in five people afflicted with hypertension has control over their condition. People need an easy to use means to accurately measure, monitor, track and share their blood pressure data with their doctors; a need that the onset of COVID-19 and demand for telehealth solutions has only amplified. Biospectal’s patented OptiBP technology replaces the antiquated traditional blood pressure cuff and provides medical-grade blood pressure measurement and management at the ‘point of patient’ in the time it takes to download an app.
“During the course of developing Biospectal OptiBP and sharing our plans with third parties, we were surprised to find how widespread and intense the need was for a scalable, practical, and convenient way to measure blood pressure,” says Eliott Jones, CEO and co-founder of Biospectal. “Our early research across the board revealed that the current cuff-based method of measuring blood pressure was both cumbersome for patients (so they didn’t use it themselves), and drove a lot of cost across players in the care process around hypertension.
Bringing our software-based solution to the iPhone is a major step in our mission to make monitoring readily available and connecting actionable data to clinicians around the world. We have found this to be universally appealing across almost all touchpoints and players involved.”
How Biospectal OptiBP works
The Biospectal OptiBP app runs on a typical smartphone and uses the built-in camera to record a user’s blood flow via their fingertip quickly and easily. A measurement is rendered in approximately 20 seconds half the time of a typical blood pressure cuff. Biospectal’s proprietary algorithms and optical signal capture methods then transform the captured data into blood pressure values. Additionally, the captured blood pressure data connects seamlessly with a user’s clinicians to support treatment regimens that help improve health, longevity and quality of life.
Reported benefits include:
- Connected remote patient monitoring shortens the pathway from measurement to action in a clinical regimen;
- Easy to use with an existing, ubiquitous device the smartphone removes adherence barriers;
- Allows users to measure and monitor their blood pressure in their ‘natural’ environment, which is where blood pressure should be monitored;
- App form factor offers continuous product improvement and feature updates; and
- Unprecedented data insights drive higher value for drug development and lower insurance costs.
No other blood pressure monitoring and management device on the market offers both the medical-grade accuracy and convenience of Biospectal. “As a cardiologist who is actively tracking patients and their vital signs, my work is moving with increasing momentum to remote engagement through telemedicine solutions.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this process by at least several years, where suddenly remote connection with patients has become essential to the basic care regimen,” says Dr. Fred St. Goar, M.D. “I can’t see us going back to the way we used to do things, and that’s a great thing for patients, doctors, and the cost and effectiveness of the health care delivery system. Simply put, remote patient monitoring will be part of the status quo going forward.”
A large-scale, third-party clinical research study published by Scientific Reports in Nature validated the ability of the Biospectal OptiBP smartphone app to accurately measure blood pressure utilising transdermal optical sensing and a smartphone camera lens. Additionally, in May 2021 two independent global research and validation studies using its Biospectal OptiBP blood pressure measurement app.
These studies further Biospectal’s ability to transform the global network of smartphones into a connected, clinical-grade blood pressure monitoring platform democratising access and bringing the power of remote patient monitoring to people and communities worldwide.
Biospectal trained its software algorithm using over two million resulting invasively acquired blood pressure samples recorded in the operating room of the CHUV in partnership with the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), and then validated it with outpatients in the hypertension clinic CHUV. The company’s patented technology represents 10+ years of non-invasive optical biosensing R&D led by Biospectal Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Patrick Schoettker, M.D..
The Biospectal OptiBP for iOS alpha is available now in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. Interested participants can register for the alpha here or sign up to be notified once Biospectal OptiBP becomes available in their country.
Click here to view a short video of how Biospectal OptiBP works.
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