Oura has secured a U.S. patent describing a method that could enable its smart ring to measure blood pressure continuously, moving beyond current efforts focused on assessing hypertension risk. The patent suggests the company is exploring ways to deliver precise systolic and diastolic readings rather than general trend indicators.
The filing, submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Nov. 1, 2023, was granted on Feb. 17, 2026. It outlines a system that synchronizes data from multiple devices — including smart rings, smartphone cameras, smartwatches and other body-worn sensors — to calculate blood pressure values.
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The development builds on research announced last October involving the Oura Ring 4, which aimed to determine the risk of high blood pressure using built-in sensors. In the latest disclosure, Oura appears to be targeting round-the-clock blood pressure measurement rather than risk estimation alone.
According to the patent, the method measures the time it takes for a pulse wave to travel between two points on the body, a metric known as pulse transit time. Because blood pressure is linked to how quickly this pulse wave moves, the calculated interval can be used to determine specific systolic and diastolic readings. Patent illustrations indicate that exact numerical values would be displayed “rather than just a rough trend line,” as seen in some competing devices.
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The system could, in some cases, combine a smartphone camera with the smart ring to capture necessary data without additional hardware. However, achieving continuous monitoring throughout the day would likely require an extra sensor, according to the patent description.
As is common with patent filings, the approval does not guarantee the feature will reach commercial products. The company noted in its earlier research that “only more extensive studies will show whether accurate blood pressure data can be collected in this way,” underscoring that further validation would be required before any rollout.
Source: Gadgets & Wearables