#141

My apologies. The Aktiia blood pressure bracelet is NOT FDA APPROVED.

I think the people who published the press release in January 2023 got confused by this article.

….and by this quote from above article

"Aktiia is available in the USA for inclusion in clinical investigations, under an Investigational Device Exception. Pending FDA authorization for commercial availability.”

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#142

I’m not going to use a device with inflation personally, as that is not going to work as it will probably wake me up during sleep or be annoying generally. The Aktiia is very accurate, similar to a 24h ambulatory one.

There is always going to be rare exceptions that have inaccurate results. Using a wrist one with inflation feels like going back to the stone age compared to this. I think this will also get more accurate over time. I don’t even like using regular inflation ones as its a bit of a hassle. The aktiia comes with one that is used every 30 days for calibration though.

#143

Funny you should say that :laughing:. I bought mine off Gumtree from a guy in Northern Ireland, who bought it to use for a 24h ambulatory blood pressure measurement as part of a hospital visit.

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#144

I may still try the inflating wrist system. I am going to stick with Aktiia for now. I don’t think it is that accurate (when compared to measurements by Omron cuffs, but there may be usable information from it.)

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#145

The average data of the Aktiia from 7 days is said to be equivalent to 1 day of AMBP:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41440-023-01258-2

Doing 1 or 2 readings with Omron in a 2 hour window vs. multiple readings that are most likely done at different times randomly is comparing apples to oranges I think.

#146

It depends on how stable the cardiovascular system is. If you get up and do some exercise then the heart rate and blood pressure will vary, but if you settle down and basically don’t move materially or do any exercise (and are some distance from eating) then it will stabilise (putting and psychological stresses aside). Hence the value you get from Omrom at such a point should be comparable to a value from Aktiia.

#147

If the Aktiia did the measurement at around the same time as the Omron, then I of course believe the Omron to be more accurate. However the value Aktiia provides is the measurements when you don’t use the Omron, during night, and the average over days, weeks, months, and trends.

#148

For those that like Omron and believe that pressure based tech is the gold standard, then here is the cheaper albeit bulkier solution that seems design for during the night also by Omron than the watch by Omron above. Have not looked into it, but thought I’d share.

Omron NightView Silent Automatic Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor HEM-9601T-E3

Clinically validated wrist monitor to use for automated overnight readings - with data transfer to the Omron app

The Omron NightView is a completely silent way to measure daytime blood pressure and automatically measure nighttime blood pressure, while still sleeping soundly.

It is clinically validated so you can rely on the readings obtained. NightView is the first at-home wrist monitor designed to measure nighttime blood pressure.

Even with controlled daytime blood pressure, 1 in 4 people still have a condition called nocturnal hypertension.

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#149

Interesting… definitely something people might want to consider. But I wonder if its still going to wake you up during the night. While the sound is one factor… the sudden constriction around your arm has to be something I would think could impact your sleep…

The device has completely silent pumping action for minimal sleep disturbance and measures with gentle inflation and less compression time

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#150

Yeah, wonder where this one is in the spectrum - smaller, but a bit more expensive

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#151

Wow - pretty cool. Still, its an inflatable strap around the wrist… I like the Aktiia design without the inflating cuff. I wonder how they compare in terms of accuracy.

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#152

This is the big question for me too. Hopefully we’ll see some head to head comparisons once (and if) Aktiia is FDA approved in the US.

#153

My issue with the pressure cuffs is that they may disrupt sleep. As it stands I am curious about blood pressure, but my priority is sleep and I would not want anything which would harm sleep in the long term. My sleep is currently better than it has been for maybe 30 years, but it remains my priority.

I may experiment with the pressure cuffs at some stage and I will keep wearing Aktiia for a while longer. I may get a pressure cuff and compare results with Aktiia. I think the Nightview is probably more accurate than the watch.

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#154

I received my Aktiia BP device in the mail on Wednesday, I managed to set it up only today. The first glance seems ok, I really don’t like the silicon band it comes with since it is difficult to put on and off and since it is not water proof you have to take it off regularly. when I was setting it up it takes three measurement with a cuff and probably compares it with optical measurement. I must say that sensor seems pretty small and I hope apple integrates it soon into the apple watch. It seems really stupid wearing apple watch and Aktiia bracelet at the same time. Accuracy? When setting it up I measured my BP pressure on the other hand with my regular cuff device and there was a bit of a difference that left a question mark on the accuracy, but it is in the margin device promises (122/76 on Aktiia vs 117/73 on my Boso). But I think 24h measurement over longer period of time gives you more in depth insight of what is going on and help you detect trends and this if more important that accuracy.

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#155

Nice review. Thank you. I think I’ll wait when Apple comes up with smth better.

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#156

Yes, for me too. At one point I was thinking to get the Omron wrist cuff watch for daytime use which is 2/3rds of the time (so a lot of datapoints without interfering with sleep) and then put on the Aktiia for sleep at the same time as I put on my Oura ring. but may wait a generation iteration on the technologies as I’m not currently that worried about my bp.

#157

If at the exact same time perhaps the manual cuff’s pressure confounds what you get from the optimal sensor - just a thought, may need to do some repeat measurements with a few seconds in between using the manual cuff - or do optimal first then manual

#158

I will play around with it. Maybe wear it for a week to see what is going on, occasionally take manual measurements and compare. Maybe reinitialize aktiia optical sensor if needed. I am wearing it since this morning and seems optical measurements dropped a little and are more in line with the cuff measurements (118/70 vs 116/73) and I can take this margin of error… i guess I am a little OCD about it. You can see the green sensor light lighting up when it takes optical measurement and pressing at the same time on my manual cuff :sweat_smile:
Will report back in a week where I am with this new device.

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#159

My package with my Aktiia is stuck somewhere in a snowstorm, hopefully I will get it. If it ends up on a deserted island with Tom Hanks I hope he finds it useful…

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#160

I wanted to ask how do you find Aktiia. Hope you get it and not Tom Hanks. Nevertheless you need electricity and a smart phone to run it. Doubt this is standard on deserted islands. :sweat_smile:

I promised a review after a week of using and wearing it.
I have really mixed feelings about it. I will try to give my pros and cons. I mostly still dislike the silicon band it comes with as it is difficult to put on and off and difficult to adjust. I really dislike the fact that Aktiia is not waterproof and I accidentally splashed it several times in a week washing hands or doing house chores. Luckily it survived. As an apple watch user I like the integration of apps into apple health and Aktiia app lacks this. I also don’t like wearing a second device. I did in the past twice two weekly measuring protocols when I measured my BP manually 3 times daily and calculated average and median arterial pressure which was doable and I must say that wearing Aktiia for a week did not get me more insights into my average or MAP BP. But on the other hand there are some points that I find valuable. The device measures your blood pressure in the background 24/7. In a week I charged it once or twice for ten minutes while taking a shower and battery is still at over 80%. App is really well designed and gives you good insight into what is happening with you BP during the day and night. It only display averages for every 2h but you can print reports that gives you accurate time stamps of individual measurements, this is particularly good if you want to check what were you activities at certain measurements. My device took 2 measurements that were above 130 SBP and one above 135 SPB, which I would find concerning but after reviewing I found that all were taken minutes after exercising. Aktiia measured my BP some 10 minutes after those high measurements and it was in optimal/normal range. I also find the device pretty accurate as I did few manual measurements at roughly the same time (I went as far as described above and took measurements in the dark waiting for Aktiia’s green sensor light to light up and measuring my BP manually at that time).
I am still in the loop how to interpret my results. I noticed my nighttime BP is much lower than my daytime BP. I always have this midday spike, consistent with cortisol spike. The other fact that I noticed it that when I am at home my BP is “optimal” and when I go to work my BP becomes “normal”. I must say that measuring with my manual device I rarely saw BP over 120, but Aktiia shows a lot of measurements above that threshold. Is it good enough that I keep my average in range? My daytime BP averages at 120/75 and nighttime at 105/60. 24h average is 115/70.

I include my typical day report. All look pretty much the same. Upon waking my BP goes up around 10 points and upon going to work another 5 points. I am not stressed at work but I need to be present and focused and alert. Maybe hence the slight elevation in BP. Ideally I would want this to be few points lower.

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