Wearable Automated Supine Pressor Test for Prediction of Preeclampsia

Craig Goergen, Kirk Foster and George Wodicka from Purdue University together with David Reuter from Seattle Children's Hospital in the U.S. will develop a wearable sensor that can automatically measure blood pressure and body position, and transmit the results to a medical unit to identify pregnant women at risk of developing preeclampsia in remote, low-resource settings. They will develop smartphone-based automation for the well-established supine pressor test, which predicts preeclampsia based on an increase in blood pressure when changing position from lying on the left side to lying on the back. They will build and test a prototype using a non-invasive blood pressure monitor that can transmit results to a smartphone that will then integrate with a wireless accelerometer to determine body position. The team will build, test, and refine their device using healthy and pregnant volunteers. The team's ultimate goal is to optimize test specificity by ensuring meticulous execution, and to improve test sensitivity by performing the diagnostic assessment longitudinally during the second half of pregnancy.