Evaluation of a new method for continuous blood pressure measurement in the ear

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in the industrialized countries. In this context, blood pressure is an important parameter that is mandatory as an indicator or for setting targeted medication. In this work, a new method for permanent, noninvasive blood pressure measurement in the external auditory canal is evaluated. For this purpose, a system was developed that can record the very small pressure fluctuations that occur in the closed auditory canal by non-invasive balloon pressure measurement in the ear canal. The pressure fluctuations result from the deflection of the ear canal wall and the tympanic membrane when the pulse wave arrives. In addition, the special challenges of the construction area ear regarding a universal ear mold as sensor carrier and the high demands on the sensor technology are presented and the quality of the method is validated by a clinical study. Simultaneously to the ear measurement, an invasive pressure measurement was performed, which represents the gold standard in medicine. By comparing the non-invasive prediction it could be shown with a representative data base that the principle of continuous, non-invasive blood pressure measurement via pressure measurement in the auditory canal is possible and could represent an alternative to classical blood pressure measurement methods.