Google Research Publishes AI System for Cuffless Hypertension Detection Using Smartwatches

Google Research published a Nature study introducing AI-PPG-ACC-HTN, a multimodal AI system that passively detects signs of hypertension using a consumer smartwatch without cuff calibration. In a prospective multi-center U.S. trial with 196 participants validated against 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, the system reached 65.8% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity for initial screening, and 78.4% sensitivity with 90.9% specificity for confirmatory testing. Google stressed this is early feasibility research, not a commercial product feature or a replacement for clinical cuff measurement and diagnosis.