# Cuffless blood pressure monitoring
Idea · id `cardio:idea-cuffless-bp-monitoring` · Cardiovascular Atlas · release `2b2017b84496b985` (public)
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Also called: Cuffless wearable blood pressure devices
Browse, organ or system: Blood vessels
Browse, condition area: High blood pressure
## In plain language
Many devices that measure blood pressure without an inflating cuff are on sale, and they claim to be accurate. A European hypertension expert group says they could change how high blood pressure is diagnosed and managed, but that questions about their accuracy must be answered first. Its 2022 statement says recent European Society of Hypertension guidelines do not recommend them for diagnosis or management, and its 2023 statement sets out six tests for checking them. The British and Irish Hypertension Society says that, until it has a way to validate wearables, none can receive its endorsement or approval. This page records that position. It does not say that any such device is accurate.
## Technical summary
Hypothesis page with maturity set to early feasibility. The two European Society of Hypertension Working Group statements (2022 and 2023) were read as abstracts only, and neither names a patient population. The 2022 abstract calls cuffless monitors "a wide and heterogeneous group of novel technologies and devices with different intended uses". Some need individual cuff calibration, which the 2023 tests address through a recalibration test. The British and Irish Hypertension Society page says it has no formal validation process for wearables and that, until it has one, no wearable blood pressure device can receive its endorsement or approval. Newer studies of cuffless devices since 2023 were not read.
## Claims, with the population each applies to
## Context: People the European Society of Hypertension cuffless-device statements address (population not stated)
Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: Not stated in the fetched abstracts. Neither abstract names a patient population.; Care setting: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Geography: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Life stage: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (expert statements)
### A 2022 statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability says that "recent guidelines by the European Society of Hypertension do not recommend cuffless devices for the diagnosis and management of hypertension". It says the established validation protocols for cuff devices are inadequate for cuffless ones. It also says cuffless devices have "considerable potential for changing the diagnosis and management of hypertension", but that "fundamental questions regarding their accuracy, performance, and implementation need to be carefully addressed before they can be recommended for clinical use".
- Category: Description
- Evidence stage: Guidance
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: Not stated in the fetched abstracts. Neither abstract names a patient population.; Care setting: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Geography: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Life stage: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (expert statements)
- Limitations: Abstract only: the full text was not fetched. The abstract names no patient population, so the population is not stated here. The abstract attributes the do-not-recommend position to recent guidelines and does not name the edition. This is a working group statement that reports that position. It is not a guideline recommendation row, and it was published in 2022. Newer cuffless devices and studies since then were not checked. A statement that devices are not recommended is not a finding that any particular device is inaccurate.
- Last checked: 2026-10-11
- Sources:
1. Supports: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2022 statement.
2. Supports: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 6. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2022 statement.
3. Supports: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, second-to-last sentence. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2022 statement.
4. Supports: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, last sentence. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2022 statement.
5. Background: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: Says many such devices are on the market and claim to be accurate.
6. Background: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: States the potential the working group sees.
7. Background: Cuffless blood pressure measuring devices: review and statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, August 2022 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 5. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:00Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 5f41ba0b9a4076a07957b9067820ced46a53be429c2c9ee09d59107c8e4f7536.
How it applies: Says cuffless devices are a heterogeneous group with different intended uses.
### A 2023 statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability recommends six validation tests for intermittent cuffless blood pressure devices, which take readings at intervals longer than 30 seconds, usually every 30 to 60 minutes, or when the user starts a reading. The tests are static, device position, treatment, awake and asleep, exercise and recalibration. Not every test is required for every device. The statement says that, to date, there were no generally accepted validation protocols for these devices.
- Category: Description
- Evidence stage: Guidance
- Certainty: Certainty not assessed
- Applies to: Recipient: Recipient not specified; Population: Not stated in the fetched abstracts. Neither abstract names a patient population.; Care setting: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Geography: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Life stage: Not stated in the fetched abstracts; Gestational age: Not reported; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Not applicable (expert statements)
- Limitations: Abstract only: the full text was not fetched, so the pass criteria, sample sizes and which test applies to which device are not described here. The abstract names no patient population, so the population is not stated here. It covers intermittent cuffless devices only. The statement proposes how to validate devices. It is not a finding that any device has passed. Work after December 2023 was not checked.
- Last checked: 2026-10-11
- Sources:
1. Supports: European Society of Hypertension recommendations for the validation of cuffless blood pressure measuring devices (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, December 2023 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, first part. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 0650ccca93af714940e8113b3609a54f02afabd9ecf98ab8970d83ebf23e3f8a.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2023 statement.
2. Supports: European Society of Hypertension recommendations for the validation of cuffless blood pressure measuring devices (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, December 2023 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, second part. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 0650ccca93af714940e8113b3609a54f02afabd9ecf98ab8970d83ebf23e3f8a.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2023 statement. First three tests.
3. Supports: European Society of Hypertension recommendations for the validation of cuffless blood pressure measuring devices (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, December 2023 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 5, last part. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 0650ccca93af714940e8113b3609a54f02afabd9ecf98ab8970d83ebf23e3f8a.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2023 statement. Last three tests.
4. Supports: European Society of Hypertension recommendations for the validation of cuffless blood pressure measuring devices (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, December 2023 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 6. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 0650ccca93af714940e8113b3609a54f02afabd9ecf98ab8970d83ebf23e3f8a.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2023 statement.
5. Supports: European Society of Hypertension recommendations for the validation of cuffless blood pressure measuring devices (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, December 2023 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 3. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 0650ccca93af714940e8113b3609a54f02afabd9ecf98ab8970d83ebf23e3f8a.
How it applies: PubMed abstract of the 2023 statement.
6. Background: European Society of Hypertension recommendations for the validation of cuffless blood pressure measuring devices (Stergiou and colleagues, Journal of Hypertension) (Publication, edition Journal of Hypertension, December 2023 issue. The PubMed record and its abstract only. The full text was not fetched.)
Locator: Abstract, sentence 4, definition of intermittent. Retrieved 2026-10-11T19:12:01Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 0650ccca93af714940e8113b3609a54f02afabd9ecf98ab8970d83ebf23e3f8a.
How it applies: Defines which cuffless devices the tests are for.
## Connected pages
- Some cuffless devices are calibrated against a cuff reading: Automated upper-arm cuff blood pressure device (`core:automated-upper-arm-cuff-device`)
## Provenance
Content hash: 82b83f229e307323fcc13abaa089e5bc9b68b736d0a98e589e37a0be69d6f87f
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-13
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-11