What If You Could Use Light to Monitor Blood Pressure?
Almost every visit to the doctor starts with a series of quick tests—weight, oxygen levels, blood pressure. Most are pretty straightforward, but one can be a little uncomfortable: the tight squeezing of the blood pressure cuff.
At Boston University, engineer Darren Roblyer is developing a new kind of medical device that can more accurately and comfortably monitor biological processes—starting with blood pressure—using light. His goal is not just to make life more pleasant for patients, but also to make it easier for clinicians to observe people with conditions like hypertension over longer periods of time, rather than relying on occasional snapshots. The technology could potentially also be applied to tracking cancer treatments.
In the video above, BU student Natalie Lett (COM’27) explains the science and engineering behind the device and asks Roblyer, a BU College of Engineering associate professor of biomedical engineering, how it might one day help patients.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.