GoKawiilThe Hilo Core blood pressure system comes with a wireless cuff and a thin wristband that can continuously track your blood pressure. Giselle Castro-Sloboda/ CNET
Swiss health tech brand Aktiia announced Tuesday that its blood pressure health system, Hilo Core, is now available in the US. Backed by 22 years of research, the device delivers long-term blood pressure insights so users can better understand their heart health, which is especially significant considering that about half of US adults have high blood pressure (also known as hypertension).
According to the company, Hilo is also the world’s first blood pressure health system that combines an FDA-cleared cuff, which helps establish a baseline blood pressure reading, with a lightweight wearable wristband that provides ongoing blood pressure readings between cuff measurements.
“What we’re doing here is redefining completely the experience of blood pressure from a one-graph reading with a cuff on the arm to something that is embedded into your life,” Josep Solà, Aktiia co-founder and chief technology officer, told CNET during a Zoom call.
Ahead of its US launch, I’ve spent the last few days testing Hilo. This is what I’ve learned.
How Hilo works
Hilo focuses on your diastolic and systolic numbers, which are used to measure blood pressure. Systolic, the number on top of your reading, measures the maximum pressure in your arteries when your heart pumps out blood, while the bottom diastolic number shows the minimum pressure in your arteries when your heart is at rest and refills with blood.
Monitoring your blood pressure numbers can help prevent strokes and heart attacks.
An example of how Hilo reads your blood pressure trend over the course of a week. Hilo/Giselle Castro-Sloboda/CNET
I got to try Hilo firsthand and found it simple to use and set up. The Hilo Core kit includes a thin, screenless wristband wearable with a 15-day battery life and an FDA-cleared cuff that connects to a mobile app. Cuff measurements are required only during the first four days of activation for calibration, and thereafter on a monthly basis. This approach aims to give you a more comprehensive picture of your blood pressure fluctuations over time, rather than focusing on a single reading.
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