Garmin’s First Attempt at a Smart Blood Pressure Monitor

Garmin currently has an FDA-cleared (not to be confused with FDA-approved) smart blood pressure monitor to join its lineup of health-focused wearables. The Garmin Index BPM Smart Blood Pressure Monitor lets users determine systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The Smart Blood Pressure Monitor will sync your data with the Garmin Connect mobile app that additionally synchronizes with Garmin devices like smartwatches, chest straps, smart scales, and bike computers.

Garmin vice president of global consumer sales, Dan Bartel, stated, “When using the Index BPM as part of the larger Garmin ecosystem, all of your health and fitness data can be viewed right in Garmin Connect, helping to give you a more complete look at your overall health in one app”.

Connected health monitoring

Users can prepare reminders to take their blood pressure, with the option to receive readings in 7-day, 4-week, and 1-year reports. These readings can be exported as a PDF if you need to share them with a healthcare provider. The Index supports up to 16 users allowing them to track their individual results and sync to their own Garmin Connect accounts. The cuff is also adjustable, fitting arm sizes from 23-43 centimeters in circumference. The Index BPM needs four AAA batteries, with a potential battery life of up to 9 months.

The Index BPM resembles an InReach satellite phone. Not what today we would call compact, as for Garmin’s description, but it is a considerable leap compared to other BPM devices. Unfortunately, we’ll have to deal with that bulk for a while since it’s not yet clear how reliable smartwatches are for blood pressure tracking.

The Index BPM is FDA-cleared, indicating that the manufacturer can demonstrate that the product is “substantially equivalent” to a comparable and legal market device that has either FDA clearance or the gold standard FDA approval.

Contextually, rival health firm Withings revealed its first blood pressure monitor capable of linking to an iPhone back in 2011. Several versions of smart blood pressure monitors have since been launched by Withings, like the also FDA-cleared Withings BPM Connect. So, while this is Garmin’s first effort at a specialized smart BPM device, it won’t spark major attention.

The Garmin Index BPM Smart Blood Pressure Monitor retails for $149.99 and is available to purchase now straight from the Garmin website or through third-party retailers.

Originally published by: The Verge