Validation of the Instant Blood Pressure Smartphone App.

Mobile health (mHealth) technologies include unregulated consumer smartphone apps.1 The Instant Blood Pressure app (IBP; AuraLife) estimates blood pressure (BP) using a technique in which the top edge of the smartphone is placed on the left side of the chest while the individual places his or her right index finger over the smartphone’s camera. Between its release on June5, 2014, and removal on July 30, 2015 (421 days), the IBP app spent 156 days as one of the top 50 best-selling iPhone apps; at least 950 copies of this $4.99 app were sold on each of those days.2 Validation of this popular app or any of the similar iPhone apps still available (eg, Blood Pressure Pocket, Quick Blood Pressure Measure and Monitor), have not been performed. Using a protocol based on national guidelines,3 we investigated the accuracy and precision of IBP.

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