SRI-B’s Blood Pressure Monitoring Application, InstaBP Wins NASSCOM AI Game Changer Award

Samsung Research & Development Institute – Bangalore (SRI-B) has been awarded the NASSCOM AI Game Changer Award 2018 for the innovative use of artificial intelligence in InstaBP, its cuff-less blood pressure monitoring app. The award recognizes high impact and hi-tech AI solutions that have been developed by organizations for their consumers.

Dr. Aloknath De (First from Left), Chief Technology Officer, SRI-B receiving the NASSCOM AI Game Changer Award 2018 for the innovative use of artificial intelligence in InstaBP

“Samsung recognizes the value of AI and it is one of our key focus areas for our products and services. We are delighted to win this award as it is yet another recognition of our constant effort to deliver superior experiences to our consumers using cutting-edge technology,” said Mr. Dipesh Shah, Managing Director, SRI-B.

Samsung’s InstaBP app, which is available on the Google Play Store, allows users to measure their blood pressure by placing their finger on the fingerprint sensor of smartphones that contain a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor (otherwise known as a heart rate sensor) present in them. The use of a PPG sensor in advanced healthcare is still in the nascent stage and is mostly used for measuring heart rate only. However, Samsung has pushed the boundaries of innovation by using artificial intelligence to enable the device to measure blood pressure using the PPG signal.

The user can now receive indications of whether their BP is low, normal or high, by adding details such as age, gender, height and weight, and placing their finger on the heart rate sensor for 30-40 seconds.

The app can play a major role in simplifying healthcare management for people. According to the World Health Organization, in 2015, there were over 1.13 billion adults globally with raised blood pressure, which can lead to ailments such as hypertension. With most urban adults being unable to regularly book clinic appointments to check their blood pressure, easy and non-invasive methods such as the InstaBP app can help people measure blood pressure regularly and on-the-go. The app is yet another product from Samsung that has been developed with the philosophy of listening to consumers and identifying unique pain points that can be addressed through innovative applications.

This was the first edition of the NASSCOM Game Changer awards and the winners were selected by a jury comprising eminent academicians from leading educational institutes such as IIT, IIM and IIIT.