Omron Corp. has developed a wristwatch-style device capable of minutely measuring blood pressure, targeting middle-aged and elderly people who aim to improve their lifestyle habits.
Omron will obtain approval for it as a medical device, and aims to start selling the product in late fiscal 2018 in the United States, and in fiscal 2019 in Japan. One in three Japanese people are said to have high blood pressure.
An inflatable bag is installed in the strap of the device in which air will be injected to measure blood pressure when turned on. The device also can gauge the user's number of steps and hours of sleep, among other functions, and the collected data can be stored in a dedicated smartphone app.
Some models of smartwatch -- a multifunctional wristwatch -- have a blood pressure measurement function. However, the error range of such watches are said to be big, as their blood pressure figures derive from a simple process taken from heart rates and other factors.
By wearing the Omron device in daily life, including bedtime, users can handily and accurately measure their blood pressure, the company said.
Omron's share in the global sphygmomanometer market is the highest at about 50 percent. The company is mulling a service in the future in which artificial intelligence and medical specialists examine users' physical conditions through data taken from the device and provide advice on their lifestyle habits.
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