OMRON Healthcare cooperates with Kyoto University to leverage AI technology in fighting against hypertension. 

OMRON Healthcare aims to make the best use of artificial intelligence technology to fully utilize blood pressure and other vital signs data monitored at home to  health and prevent disease from developing and progressing.

To achieve this, OMRON Healthcare partnered with Kyoto University in a research project called “Healthcare AI Workshop.” Launched on June 1, 2021, the project  aims to develop AI technology that can be used in an unprecedented way to enable effective control of  hypertensive patients’ blood pressure and minimize risk for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases.

The workshop strives to get the most out of health data monitored at home in order to prevent the incidence of serious disease as a part of daily living, and will focus on two themes to promote research.

Of hypertensive patients undergoing treatment, 30% don’t control their blood pressure properly, according to 2019 guidelines from the Japanese Society of Hypertension.

Personalized blood pressure control enabled by AI technology.

This workshop aims to develop AI that can derive a blood pressure control method customized for each patient based on vital signs data monitored at home and lifestyle data, such as cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption.

Blood pressure fluctuates constantly throughout the day. Numerous factors cause these changes, including meals, exercise, sleep, stress, ambient temperature, and the pattern of changes also vary from person to person. OMRON Healthcare offers a wearable blood pressure monitor enabling measurement anytime during the day as well as a nocturnal monitor. These devices can be used to detect blood pressure fluctuations in the course of a normal day, and AI is used to discover the causal factors for these changes. This will facilitate medication planning and lifestyle improvement programs optimized for individuals. Once it becomes possible to customize blood pressure control for individual patients, patient motivation to seek treatment will also increase, and the burden on physicians can be reduced.

Even if a patient controls blood pressure appropriately, it is impossible to completely eliminate the onset of serious events such as strokes or heart attacks. Enabling early-stage detection for such events is a key health challenge. Simply controlling blood pressure is not enough to reduce the incidence of cerebrovascular/cardiovascular diseases to zero. Because of this limitation, the research workshop will work to develop AI technology capable of detecting warning signs for these life-threatening events based on the blood pressure readings, ECG data, and other monitoring that patients can perform on a daily basis.

The goal is to create an environment in which hypertensive patients will receive fully personalized healthcare on a timely basis, making the best use of health data that patients measure at home. This will help eliminate concerns regarding strokes or heart attacks, and enable patients to lead healthy lives with effective blood pressure control. And as we continue to advance our consultation support service, we also seek to reduce the burden borne by medical professionals, which is a critical social challenge today.