Genuine free to use app for BP monitoring

Grumpy_chap

I am unsure why we, collectively, seem to want everything as an app.

Given the low cost of the cuff-type blood pressure monitors available on the High Street, that seems a far better solution.

Meanwhile, if anyone is developing a new app, I'd be interested in the Android Toolkit so I can simply point my phone and screw a screw, hammer a nail, saw some wood and dig a hole all avoiding the effort traditionally associated with such tasks 😉

JSmithy45AD

Grumpy_chap said:

I am unsure why we, collectively, seem to want everything as an app.

Given the low cost of the cuff-type blood pressure monitors available on the High Street, that seems a far better solution.

Meanwhile, if anyone is developing a new app, I'd be interested in the Android Toolkit so I can simply point my phone and screw a screw, hammer a nail, saw some wood and dig a hole all avoiding the effort traditionally associated with such tasks 😉

They have a proper cuff BP monitor but they seem to want to monitor it as they're doing things around the house which of course is not the way to measure your blood pressure. If you go to the Docs to get it read, they actually allow for the slight rise caused by being at the doctors in the first place, so testing after DIY or exercise is entirely pointless.

t0rt0ise

JSmithy45AD said:

Grumpy_chap said:

I am unsure why we, collectively, seem to want everything as an app.

Given the low cost of the cuff-type blood pressure monitors available on the High Street, that seems a far better solution.

Meanwhile, if anyone is developing a new app, I'd be interested in the Android Toolkit so I can simply point my phone and screw a screw, hammer a nail, saw some wood and dig a hole all avoiding the effort traditionally associated with such tasks 😉

They have a proper cuff BP monitor but they seem to want to monitor it as they're doing things around the house which of course is not the way to measure your blood pressure. If you go to the Docs to get it read, they actually allow for the slight rise caused by being at the doctors in the first place, so testing after DIY or exercise is entirely pointless.

Except 24 hour monitoring is a thing. It goes every half hour in the day and hourly at night. They tell you to stay still while it's taking a blood pressure but otherwise act normally.

PHK

I was intrigued so I did some research.

The way a heartbeat sensor works is by measuring the pulses in the blood flow using a sensor. (The changes in light/dark as blood cells pass). An actual heart rate device uses a special sensor that measures light levels. 

 A camera can do this if there is a bright light behind, below or to one  side of the finger pressed against the camera lense . Some phones have the flash sensor close  enough to do this. With others you need to find a bright light. Note the camera can't have autofocus switched on. 

For blood pressure ESTIMATION the same health sensor measures the speed of change to estimate the blood flow. Using one of several algorithms it's possible to combine heart rate and flow speed to generate an approximation of CHANGE in blood pressure. So if calibrated periodically, the device can tell if blood pressure is increasing or decreasing and ESTIMATE by how much. 

With the apps that use the camera to measure blood pressure, they use one of the algorithms to produce a rough ESTIMATE only, but there's no way to calibrate and so the resultant reading is no more than novelty value. 

JSmithy45AD

t0rt0ise said:

JSmithy45AD said:

Grumpy_chap said:

I am unsure why we, collectively, seem to want everything as an app.

Given the low cost of the cuff-type blood pressure monitors available on the High Street, that seems a far better solution.

Meanwhile, if anyone is developing a new app, I'd be interested in the Android Toolkit so I can simply point my phone and screw a screw, hammer a nail, saw some wood and dig a hole all avoiding the effort traditionally associated with such tasks 😉

They have a proper cuff BP monitor but they seem to want to monitor it as they're doing things around the house which of course is not the way to measure your blood pressure. If you go to the Docs to get it read, they actually allow for the slight rise caused by being at the doctors in the first place, so testing after DIY or exercise is entirely pointless.

Except 24 hour monitoring is a thing. It goes every half hour in the day and hourly at night. They tell you to stay still while it's taking a blood pressure but otherwise act normally.

Which is not what the OP seems to want so I'm not sure what your point is?

t0rt0ise

JSmithy45AD said:

t0rt0ise said:

JSmithy45AD said:

Grumpy_chap said:

I am unsure why we, collectively, seem to want everything as an app.

Given the low cost of the cuff-type blood pressure monitors available on the High Street, that seems a far better solution.

Meanwhile, if anyone is developing a new app, I'd be interested in the Android Toolkit so I can simply point my phone and screw a screw, hammer a nail, saw some wood and dig a hole all avoiding the effort traditionally associated with such tasks 😉

They have a proper cuff BP monitor but they seem to want to monitor it as they're doing things around the house which of course is not the way to measure your blood pressure. If you go to the Docs to get it read, they actually allow for the slight rise caused by being at the doctors in the first place, so testing after DIY or exercise is entirely pointless.

Except 24 hour monitoring is a thing. It goes every half hour in the day and hourly at night. They tell you to stay still while it's taking a blood pressure but otherwise act normally.

Which is not what the OP seems to want so I'm not sure what your point is?

Because you said "testing after DIY or exercise is entirely pointless" when it obviously isn't. The OP may want to know exactly that.. how high his BP goes and how long it takes to come back down to normal. Both very useful things to know when monitoring one's health.

UnsureAboutthis

PHK said:

I was intrigued so I did some research.

The way a heartbeat sensor works is by measuring the pulses in the blood flow using a sensor. (The changes in light/dark as blood cells pass). An actual heart rate device uses a special sensor that measures light levels. 

 A camera can do this if there is a bright light behind, below or to one  side of the finger pressed against the camera lense . Some phones have the flash sensor close  enough to do this. With others you need to find a bright light. Note the camera can't have autofocus switched on. 

For blood pressure ESTIMATION the same health sensor measures the speed of change to estimate the blood flow. Using one of several algorithms it's possible to combine heart rate and flow speed to generate an approximation of CHANGE in blood pressure. So if calibrated periodically, the device can tell if blood pressure is increasing or decreasing and ESTIMATE by how much. 

With the apps that use the camera to measure blood pressure, they use one of the algorithms to produce a rough ESTIMATE only, but there's no way to calibrate and so the resultant reading is no more than novelty value. 

Thank you on two points.

1: You saved me time by answering a question raised by someone here.

2: I've found your post, very helpful.


I would still like to know where I can get a free app to monitor BP
via a smartphone camera.

Cornucopia

Is there a particular reason why you think such a thing is possible?   

The language and the slightly scammy nature of some app providers possibly doesn't help - there are apps that "monitor" BP, but they do not measure it - you need a separate device, and can then record the readings with the app for trend analysis. 

You can go through the NHS's info on this topic, here:-
https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/check-your-blood-pressure-reading