In a hospital, blood pressure is typically measured in one of two ways. For patients in need of continuous blood pressure monitoring (eg in the ICU or operating theatre), intra-arterial monitoring is the standard practice, involving the insertion of a catheter into an artery and the patient’s blood pressure being displayed continuously on a pressure wave monitor.

For the patient’s journey beyond the ICU, however, such invasive blood pressure (IBP) monitoring becomes impractical, for several reasons. In this article, we will look at those reasons and how a wearable continuous blood pressure monitor can improve the situation for patients, clinicians and hospitals.