An intelligent home blood pressure monitor from Illinois-based Omron Healthcare uses AI to check for atrial fibrillation.

In what is said to be a medical device first, the blood pressure monitor uses the machine-learning IntelliSense AFib algorithm that automatically checks for AFib during every blood pressure measurement and can provide early detection for a high stroke and heart failure risk.

The Omron Connect app syncs with every Intellisense AFib blood pressure monitor via Bluetooth to iOS and Android devices.

“Omron Healthcare is evolving the blood pressure monitoring experience by making AFib screening an integral part of every measurement,” said Omron Healthcare US managing director Alice Koehler. “AFib is a serious condition that is widely undiagnosed. With Intellisense AFib, we are working to help anyone who uses our blood pressure monitors detect this condition earlier so they can reduce the associated stroke, heart failure and dementia risks.”

AFib is the most common type of heart arrythmia. Left untreated, the condition increases risk of stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease and dementia. AFib risk factors accelerate over age 40 and include high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, smoking, heavy use of alcohol and sleep apnoea.

“Our blood pressure monitors with Intellisense AFib automatically screen for atrial fibrillation with every single measurement,” said Koehler. “With this breakthrough AFib detection, Omron is setting a new high standard for the blood pressure monitoring experience.”

Medical experts say AFib has become a health epidemic. A study published in the September 2024 Journal of the American College of Cardiology (www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.07.014) found that AFib is three times more prevalent than previously estimated. The American Stroke Association estimates that millions of Americans with AFib are undiagnosed and many may not experience symptoms.

IntelliSense AFib incorporates over 300 mathematical indices into a machine-learning algorithm that analyses the pressure pulse wave generated as the blood pressure monitor cuff inflates. A clinical study published in the October 2024 Heart Rhythm Journal (www.heartrhythmjournal.com/article/S1547-5271(24)02520-7/fulltext) found Omron blood pressure monitors with Intellisense AFib can detect disturbances specific to AFib with remarkable accuracy.

The FDA granted Omron Healthcare medical-device authorisation for Intellisense AFib via the agency’s De Novo classification, a regulatory pathway for first-of-their-kind innovations.

Omron has introduced an AFib education hub (omronhealthcare.com/afib-detection-technology) that explains the condition, its risk factors, and common symptoms. The hub provides details on how Intellisense AFib works and how Omron developed the innovation.

AFib education extends to the Omron Connect app, which syncs with every Intellisense AFib blood pressure monitor via Bluetooth to iOS and Android devices. Omron Connect charts user readings by the day, week, month and year. The app analyses a user’s trends and habits, presents insights to explain data, and provides daily reminders and progress reports. With Connect, a user can send heart health readings to a doctor.

“Research shows ninety per cent of heart attacks and strokes are preventable,” said Koehler. “By evolving the blood pressure monitoring experience with Intellisense AFib, Omron is providing unprecedented at-home access to technologies that can make a world of difference in heart health.”

With 50 years of medical device category experience, Omron Healthcare (OmronHealthcare.com) makes and distributes personal heart health products and innovates in technologies supporting respiratory and pain management care.