Finally saw a smart watch that can really measure blood pressure independently.
For the medical term hypertension, many people have cognitive misunderstandings, thinking that it will occur more in middle-aged and elderly people, far away from young people. In fact, this is not the case, relevant data shows that in the past 30 years, the number of people aged 30-79 years old with hypertension has increased from 650 million to 1.28 billion. Unfortunately, nearly half of them didn’t realize they were one of them.
This is precisely where high blood pressure is most harmful. Unlike colds, high blood pressure has a relatively slow onset, and there is no significant change in early physical characteristics, even if there are symptoms such as dizziness and palpitations, it is difficult to think that it is caused by high blood pressure. But in fact, many seemingly independent diseases are complications of high blood pressure, and if left unchecked for a long time, many organs such as the heart and kidneys will have problems.
Theoretically, if you want to detect abnormalities in time, you can only check 24 hours a day. But life still has to go on, and you can’t stay in the hospital every day. Empowering smart wearable devices to monitor their health is currently the best solution, which doesn’t require much extra time and spending, and is convenient to use, allowing you to know key body indicators anytime, anywhere.
Previously, Huawei’s smart wearable devices have been able to implement functions such as continuous heart rate monitoring, ECG collection, blood oxygen measurement, sleep monitoring, body temperature detection, heart health research, and stress testing. The new Huawei Watch D not only retains all the above features, but also adds the ability to measure blood pressure independently, which is the most comprehensive health monitoring capability among all wearable devices today.
How to create a “wrist” blood pressure monitor
As we all know, there are two kinds of sphygmomanometers commonly used in families, one is mercury sphygmomanometer, which needs to be combined with a stethoscope to assist subjective judgment, and there is a certain threshold for getting started; The other is an arm electronic sphygmomanometer with a relatively simple operation, but no matter which type of sphygmomanometer is above, it is not convenient to carry it with you, and there is no way to provide measurement services at any time.
The advantage of Huawei Watch D is that its product form is not much different from conventional smart watches, the space and time requirements are very low, usually can be worn directly on the wrist, blood pressure can be measured anytime, anywhere, it will not look strange.
In fact, there are some smart watches on the market that have announced support for blood pressure detection, but there is a fundamental difference between them and the Huawei Watch D. Most of the previous smart watches with blood pressure detection function need to be used with professional blood pressure monitors, which is equivalent to data collection or third-party equipment to complete, Huawei Watch D is completely independent measurement capabilities.
In principle, Huawei Watch D is actually the same as many arm electronic blood pressure monitors, which is also an oscilloscope method, which needs to be used as a pressure transmission medium through the air bag, and the contact area between the air bag and the test site will directly affect the accuracy of the test, so the external air bags of the conventional electronic blood pressure monitor are relatively large. However, Huawei Watch D is worn in the same way as the watch, which determines that its structural design will be very difficult.
On the one hand, you have to find a way to make the air bag on the watch in a way that does not affect wearing comfort and aesthetics; On the other hand, it is also necessary to consider how to cram a powerful air pump into a very limited internal space to drive the airbag to work normally. The ingenious point of the Huawei Watch D is that the airbag is placed on the inside of the strap, which solves the problems we mentioned above.
Still for wearing comfort and aesthetics, Huawei uses a special narrow airbag design on this product. It may not be directly visible to the naked eye, in fact, it is a double-layer air bag structure, and the fit between the air bag and the skin after bulging up and the pressure it can provide are good, which can improve the measurement accuracy to a certain extent.
Once you’ve got the airbag, it’s time for the air pump. The Huawei Watch D has a built-in miniature air pump the size of a dime coin, which is small but of great quality. Officially, its pressurization range can reach 300mmHg, and the highest blood pressure that supports measurement has come to 230mmHg, which is consistent with the traditional blood pressure meter measurement range.
Due to the pressure process, the air bag will give the strap an outward force, and if the conventional silicone strap is used, it is easy to appear obvious deformation, reducing the accuracy of measurement. Therefore, Huawei Watch D adopts a sandwich tensile strap with built-in polymer tensile material, and a special precision-forged stainless steel butterfly buckle, which can well avoid the impact of repeated adjustment of the strap length on the tightness.
In addition, Huawei Watch D adopts a 0.01mmHg high-resolution pressure sensor and a low flow resistance air path design. Officially, the error of this pressure measurement system is controlled within ±3mmHg, which has reached the medical level. Based on 128Hz real-time feedback pressure control, it also adjusts the inflation flow rate in time to the feedback pressure to achieve a low-jitter linear boost, which is also helpful for improving measurement accuracy.
Of course, in the matter of improving measurement accuracy, one of the great advantages of smart devices is that they can reduce the impact of individual differences on blood pressure measurement through algorithm optimization. However, because human blood pressure is affected by many factors such as age and gender, it is definitely not enough to use only one set of algorithms, so Huawei has made multiple sets of algorithm models for this product.
During the measurement process, the system classifies the population according to the current pulse wave signal characteristics, and automatically matches the algorithm model that is most suitable for the current user to improve the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.
How is it to use?
Above we roughly talked about Huawei is now “installed” into the watch with a blood pressure monitor, let’s talk about it specifically, how it actually works. Just like many regular smart watches, the Huawei Watch D comes with two sets of straps/airbags of different sizes, M and L, the difference is that it has an additional measuring scale.
As we mentioned earlier, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement data and the fit between the airbag and the test site have a lot to do with it, so before officially using the Huawei Watch D, you must first measure the wrist circumference with the included ruler, and then select the appropriate strap and airbag based on this, and select the corresponding size setting in the device. Both the airbag and the strap support quick release, which is relatively simple to operate.
Considering the accuracy of data measurement, it is recommended to put the watch body in the middle of the back of the wrist hand, and the edge of the watch body is below the root of the ulnar styloid process (the part where the wrist protrudes), and the root of the ulnar styloid process cannot be pressed, and the distance should not be too far, so that the center of the dial and the wrist and the palm horizontal stripe between the two fingers can be maintained.
The things we usually need to pay attention to when measuring blood pressure are also applicable when measuring with Huawei Watch D. It is recommended to sit still for a period of time (more than 5 minutes) before measuring, and to be quiet and avoid talking during the measurement. In addition, because it is used differently from other sphygmomanometers, the measuring arm needs to maintain a stable posture, without clenching fists and pressing on the chest, so that the device and heart are in a flat position as much as possible.
In terms of health, Huawei’s great strength is not only good at helping users reduce the difficulty of obtaining physical data through hardware innovation, but also in the extended application of data. Friends who know Huawei smart watches should know that Huawei has previously launched a heart health study with 301 Hospital to help users conduct heart health screening based on the heart rate monitoring capabilities of Huawei watches.
This time brought the blood pressure health research, initiated by the China Medical Promotion Association, with the participation of 301 Hospital, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Wuhan Asian Heart Hospital, etc., based on the blood pressure measurement capability of Huawei Watch D, can achieve sensorless blood pressure trend and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.
The non-sensory blood pressure trend function is actually the application of non-sensory blood pressure trend monitoring technology to continuously detect blood pressure. The benefits are twofold, one is that the device can screen for abnormal blood pressure rhythms based on records, helping users identify cardiovascular disease risks; The other is that when the body is under high pressure during the day, the watch will remind the user to actively measure blood pressure in time to enhance the awareness of blood pressure management.
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring uses micropump measurement technology to measure blood pressure at regular intervals to record changes in blood pressure levels throughout the day. When this feature is turned on, the watch reminds the user to measure blood pressure every 30 minutes when not sleeping, and every 45 minutes when asleep. This relatively accurate blood pressure measurement data is very helpful for screening for occult hypertension.
In addition to the above mentioned above, you can also formulate a scientific blood pressure management plan in the Huawei Sports Health app; Based on the daily blood pressure health management clock-in situation, the device will generate a weekly blood pressure management health report; When you are worried about your health data, you can directly seek help from a doctor through the app, a convenient service similar to an integrated health platform, which is difficult for you to experience on other brands of devices at this stage.
More comprehensive health monitoring capabilities
The biggest highlight of the Huawei Watch D is the ability to measure blood pressure, but obviously, you can’t directly call it a “blood pressure monitor”. From the naming convention, it is easy to know that Huawei still classifies this product into the category of smart watches, but the positioning is different from the other series that exist, and it emphasizes more powerful and comprehensive health monitoring capabilities.
The best place to reflect this view is that it supports ECG acquisition. As we all know, in the past, if the smart watch supported the ECG function, the ECG suffix was directly added to the name, but Huawei Watch D did not do this. In a way, ECG has become the default function here, just like heart rate monitoring.
The functions and services that Huawei ECG watches have been able to achieve before can be provided by Huawei Watch D. It can perform ECG signal acquisition, after the measurement is completed, you can choose to save the ECG report locally or send it to the doctor for interpretation, or you can obtain a detailed report through the paid ECG interpretation service provided by the National Telemedicine and Internet Medical Center.
The body temperature measurement function introduced on the Huawei Watch GT3 also appeared on the Huawei Watch D. It has a built-in high-precision temperature sensor and health management based on body temperature, and a new “body temperature” card has been added to the sports health app for easy viewing.
In addition to the above, you can experience other functions such as blood oxygen measurement, heart rate monitoring, stress monitoring, sleep quality detection, sleep apnea risk screening, etc., which you can experience on Huawei Watch D. In addition to being good enough for health monitoring, the phone’s sports capabilities are just as great.
Huawei has stuffed a high-precision GNSS positioning chip into its fuselage, with more than 70 sports modes built-in, including running, cycling, skipping rope, elliptical machine, rowing machine, etc., and common sports types are basically included. In addition, the phone also supports 6 daily sports intelligent recognition, which is enough to meet the normal use needs of most people.
In terms of intelligent experience, Huawei Watch D also supports the use of Alipay for mobile payment, bus/access control card, remote photography and other functions, but compared with other Huawei smart watches, its app store is not so rich, mainly some practical applications. Of course, the dial market is as rich as ever, and there is no need to worry about this.
In wearable devices, the aggregator of health monitoring capabilities
In fact, Huawei has long been clear that it will take the path of sports health, no matter which product series, it has the ability to play sports and health that is not inferior to competing products in the same price segment. However, there is still a clear tendency between each product series, such as the digital series emphasizes a comprehensive intelligent experience, intelligence, health monitoring capabilities, and sports functions go hand in hand.
Represented by the GT3 released some time ago, the GT series tends to be sporty. In this way, it is equivalent to a more representative product series in the direction of health. And the arrival of Huawei Watch D just fills this “gap”. When choosing a Huawei smart watch later, it may make you less entangled and take a seat according to the point you pay more attention to.
Huawei Watch D is very easy to summarize, after the introduction of blood pressure measurement function, it has more comprehensive and powerful health monitoring capabilities than all other smart watches on the market today. And because it retains some of the sports functions and playability that we think a smart watch should have, while having a long battery life of 7 days, there is no problem in using it as a normal smart watch.
Just want to buy a smart watch with relatively better health monitoring capabilities, Huawei Watch D is one of the good choices. But if you want to buy a smart watch that can measure blood pressure independently, then it is currently the only option on the market.
Editor-in-charge: SeaGreen
The author of this article: Tofu shop manager
This article was first published in Geek’s Choice, please contact Geekparker (ID: geekparker) for reprinting.