{"id":42251,"date":"2025-03-04T18:39:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T18:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aktiia.com\/uk\/?p=42251"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:29:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:29:03","slug":"how-accurate-is-hilo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hilo.wp-dev-stage.de\/uk?p=42251","title":{"rendered":"How Accurate Is the Hilo Blood Pressure Monitor?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monitoring blood pressure, a key health parameter, has traditionally required bulky equipment<\/a>, trained medical personnel and been confined to clinical settings. Usually, blood pressure monitoring usually only takes place when other health concerns come to light, or on an ad-hoc basis, which means that there are often long intervals between readings. However, if blood pressure data are collected on a regular basis, monitoring of the results can provide valuable insight into a person\u2019s overall health and wellbeing over a long period, rather than just at a snapshot in time, giving fuller, richer data. For such a neglected metric, blood pressure can provide significant information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Times \u2013 and technologies \u2013 are changing. Increasingly, people are looking to monitor their health at home, with blood pressure increasingly coming to the fore as a metric for measurement. Commonly, this is done using commercially available cuff devices, either on the upper arm or the wrist. However, while these devices can give blood pressure values at a snapshot in time, they don\u2019t always generate the data that\u2019s useful and comparable. What would be more useful to physicians is a collection of accurate, aggregated and regular supply of blood pressure readings that can be relied upon to make diagnoses and manage treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wearable technology is now at the forefront of the healthcare innovation revolution. It is helping to make efficient use of healthcare resources and leading to more precise management of a variety of conditions with better patient outcomes \u2013 in particular for hypertension (high blood pressure), thanks to personalised recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article focuses on the Hilo Band and Hilo App<\/a> (formerly Aktiia), and how together they\u2019re making blood pressure monitoring more accurate, convenient and accessible. Worn unobtrusively on the wrist, the device is ideal for use both day and night to provide a consistent data stream on an individual\u2019s blood pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with any new technology, the million-dollar question is: how well does it perform? That\u2019s especially true for medical devices. And in the case of the Hilo Band, just how accurate, reliable and effective is it? To answer these questions, let\u2019s learn more about the technology that the Hilo device uses for blood pressure readings and the regulatory testing and validation it has undergone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does the Hilo Blood Pressure Monitor Achieve Accurate Readings?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hilo\u2019s Optical Blood Pressure Monitoring (OBPM) technology uses optical sensors to gather photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals from the arteries in the wrist. The shape of the PPG waveform contains information about blood pressure, and the OBPM algorithm strips out the \u2018noise\u2019<\/a> to turn these signals into systolic (pressure when the heart beats) and diastolic (pressure when the heart rests between beats) readings, along with resting heart rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accuracy of blood pressure monitors is validated under the ISO 81060-2 standard, which stipulates that a product must be tested against a trusted reference device: examples include an arterial line, an arm cuff and a stethoscope, and a volume clamp on the finger. In one clinical trial<\/a>, it was shown that the Hilo blood pressure monitoring device performed within the ISO accuracy standards for systolic and diastolic measurements, as well as for measurements taken across multiple body locations. It was awarded the CE Mark as a Class IIa medical device in December 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accuracy Through Comparison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Setting-up and maintaining the Hilo Band device regularly is key to accurate readings. When the device is first used, an initial comparison with an electronic upper arm cuff is required (provided with the product), which should then be repeated monthly to ensure continued accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilo blood pressure monitor is the only device available on the market that continually collects data and compares it with a monthly reference value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is continuous blood pressure monitoring important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To understand why continuous blood pressure monitoring is important, it\u2019s worth comparing this method to traditional, inconsistent monitoring in clinical settings. Traditional cuff-based blood pressure monitors, while widely used, have their limitations and potential sources of error which could lead to inaccurate readings, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n