Reading Blood Pressure: The Importance of Ambulatory Monitoring and Recording of Blood Pressure Data

Reading duration: Approximately 6 minutes

Published: 30/09/2024

Ambulatory monitoring of health parameters is crucial as we move closer to a more personalised healthcare system, where we all participate in managing our own health and well-being. The HUAWEI WATCH D2 provides us with a revolutionary way to keep on top of our cardiovascular health – truly bringing us closer to understanding our own wellbeing and health status.

Prof Christopher James

Professor Christopher James is a biomedical engineer and an academic at the University of Warwick in the UK, as well as founding director of two biomedical technology start-ups. With 30 years of research experience in the analysis of signals recorded from the human body, he has a particular interest in the ambulatory recording of health parameters for the assessment of health and well-being, and for the prediction and prevention of adverse health conditions.

The Silent Risks of Blood Pressure: Understanding Hypertension and Hypotension

Traditional Blood Pressure Measurement: How it Works

How the HUAWEI WATCH D2 Changes the Game for Blood Pressure Monitoring

My Personal Experience with the HUAWEI WATCH D2

Integrating the HUAWEI WATCH D2 into Daily Life for Seamless Health Monitoring

Conclusion and Outlook: The Watch as a Source of Holistic Health Insights

The Silent Risks of Blood Pressure: Understanding Hypertension and Hypotension

Hypertension (or high-blood pressure) can be quite serious as it enhances the risk of cardiovascular disease, which could lead to increased risk of death. Many may not even know that they have high-blood pressure, but even if they do, monitoring it and keeping on top of it is of vital importance – yet for many this can be done rather infrequently. In the UK, NHS England states that regular home blood pressure monitoring across a population of 50,000 patients could prevent up to 500 heart attacks and 745 strokes over five years [1]. It is also possible to have low-blood pressure (hypotension). This can be equally as serious and, again, mostly has no symptoms.

Traditional Blood Pressure Measurement: How it Works

Traditionally, blood pressure is recorded by a healthcare professional by using a dedicated blood pressure measuring device and usually consists of a cuff placed on the upper arm that inflates then deflates and reveals two rather important measures of your blood pressure, such as for example 118/75.

So far, so good! You visit your doctor, they use their machine, and you receive these numbers to understand your blood pressure, right? Or do you? The problem is that blood pressure is notoriously difficult to interpret accurately from just a single reading.

This is due to a variety of factors: possibly poor measuring technique by the person taking the reading, and most importantly, the inherent variability of blood pressure itself. It can fluctuate based on your health, the time of day or night, your posture, current activity, and more. The more health data you can provide to your doctor. the better they can support your health journey.

Good to Know: How to Decode Blood Pressure Readings

The first number (sometimes called the top-number) shows the pressure in the arteries as the heart pumps blood during each beat (so called, systolic blood pressure) – the second number (the bottom number) shows the pressure as the heart relaxes before the next beat (diastolic blood pressure). Together these numbers convey a range of values that tell you whether you have low, normal or high-blood pressure.

How the HUAWEI WATCH D2 Changes the Game for Blood Pressure Monitoring

So, you see, measuring blood pressure over extended periods of time – as crucial as it is – has been notoriously difficult over the years. This is why I am quite excited about the HUAWEI WATCH D2. Finally, we have a device small enough to wear, that not only looks the part, but is practical and highly functional.

While the HUAWEI WATCH D2 does not replace traditional blood pressure devices, it serves as a valuable tool to support medical professionals in assessing blood pressure and related conditions. Its ambulatory nature provides data that many have not had access to before, due to bulky traditional ambulatory blood pressure monitoring devices.

Additional data includes detailed insights into blood pressure patterns throughout the day, responses to various activities,
and long-term trends that would not be captured through single-time measurements.

As a biomedical engineer, I focus on extracting data from the body over extended periods. This approach is crucial because it provides more than just a random snapshot – which, as we’ve seen, can be practically useless for blood pressure monitoring. This continuous tracking is exactly what ambulatory monitoring aims to achieve [3].

My Personal Experience with the HUAWEI WATCH D2

My testing of the HUAWEI WATCH D2 came at an opportune time, as I am currently discussing my own cardiovascular health with my healthcare practitioner. We are focusing on finding the best medication and dosage to manage my hypertension effectively.

The HUAWEI WATCH D2 provides me with a detailed look into my cardiovascular health over long periods of time, offering highly granular data (as frequently as every 15 minutes) both during the day and night. This gives a huge amount of information that can be used about my cardiovascular health, and – with the help of the accompanying app – I can share this with my physician for their interpretation and to help support their diagnosis.

As I mentioned earlier, accurately measuring blood pressure can be notoriously challenging, especially due to issues related to posture. While this problem still exists, the HUAWEI WATCH D2 handles it remarkably well.

Integrating the HUAWEI WATCH D2 into Daily Life for Seamless Health Monitoring

Throughout the day, I receive prompts to measure my blood pressure at the frequency I've chosen and set. The HUAWEI Heath App and website also provide guidance on the best position to assume for the most accurate reading.

Of course, if I’m out driving, for example, taking a blood pressure reading isn’t practical and definitely not recommended. But the HUAWEI WATCH D2 can detect when a measurement is likely to be inaccurate and will either discard the reading or flag it as potentially unreliable.
This is an important feature because 'bad data' could lead you to chase non-existent health issues – or worse, make you lose trust in the records and the device altogether.

It is worth mentioning that the HUAWEI WATCH D2 does a particularly good job at measuring blood pressure during sleep. It operates quietly and is barely noticeable; in fact, it has never woken me up. The resulting data, which shows the stability (or not) of my blood pressure at night, is priceless.

The information I am getting from the HUAWEI WATCH D2 over extended periods, coupled with my visits to my own healthcare practitioner shows the stability of my blood pressure and any changes over time.

“The HUAWEI WATCH D2 provides a fantastic in-depth look at your cardiovascular health – ambulatory monitoring is the way to go to have a fuller picture of your health and wellbeing 24/7.”

Conclusion and Outlook: The Watch as a Source of Holistic Health Insights

Finally, it is worth noting that the HUAWEI WATCH D2 also measures other health and wellness parameters, such as heart rate, breathing rate, SpO2, ECG, as well as the now relatively ubiquitous step count and other activity metrics. All these measurements contribute to a broader understanding of your general health and well-being. By collecting data in an ambulatory setting over extended periods – day and night – these readings provide an unprecedented amount of information to help you, and your healthcare professionals effectively manage your health.

Medical disclaimer: The HUAWEI WATCH D2 and the ECG feature is intended to be used by people aged 18 years and over, but is not intended to replace any medical diagnosis or treatment. Data obtained during the use of this device and feature is for personal reference only. Before using the device, please carefully read the Quick Start Guide, Wearing Guide, and Instruction for Use.

Due to national restrictions on obtaining approval / registration as a medical device, the HUAWEI WATCH D2 will only be available in selected European markets, and the ECG feature only works on watches and smartphones purchased in countries where the service is available

- Supported smartphones: Mobile phones with Android 6.0 or compatibles, HarmonyOS 2.0 or compatibles, or iOS 12.0 or compatibles. The Huawei Health app version on your mobile phone must be 11.0 or compatibles. Please make sure that your wearable device and phone are running the latest versions before using ECG.

-Heart rate, breathing rate, SpO2, and ECG are not medical device features, monitoring data and results are for reference only and should not be used as a basis for medical diagnosis or treatment.