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The basics:

• RWJBarnabas Health, SciTech Scity partner on digital health pilot
• Biobeat‘s FDA-cleared cuffless patch enables 24-hour BP monitoring
• Pilot launched at Jersey City Medical Center for hypertension patients
• Program aims to improve access, accuracy and equity in health care

A pilot program between RWJBarnabas Health and the Liberty Science Center‘s SciTech Scity Healthcare Innovation Engine is showing the vast potential of digital health solutions. Biobeat, a medtech leader in hypertension diagnostics, has developed the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared cuffless blood pressure patch for 24-hour in-home monitoring. It recently rolled out through this pilot at Jersey City Medical Center.

The device replaces the traditional, cumbersome devices with a simple, wearable patch equipped with a non-invasive sensor. It also features an AI-powered platform that generates a detailed report immediately after testing, which provides clinicians with real-time insights for more accurate diagnoses and improved patient outcomes.

SciTech Scity is a 30-acre innovation campus that uses science and technology to address humanity’s greatest challenges. RWJBarnabas Health has signed on to a multiyear partnership with SciTech Scity’s Healthcare Innovation Engine.

The pilot program marks a notable milestone in the infancy of this collaboration – with a focus on advancing digital health solutions that make care more accessible and equitable, particularly for vulnerable and underserved communities.

Revolutionizing care

“We are striving to revolutionize how health care systems collaborate with innovators by addressing these unique challenges and setting the stage for a more equitable and effective healthcare system,” said Liberty Science Center President and CEO Paul Hoffman, who has been the vision behind SciTech Scity.

Hoffman said this pilot program exemplifies the Health Innovation Engine’s mission to support emerging technologies and bring about cutting-edge solutions that are practical, patient-centered and responsive to real-world challenges in the health care system.

“This pilot represents a significant step forward in creating scalable, digital-first care pathways that have the potential to reshape the future of healthcare delivery,” said Hoffman. “Moreover, they personify SciTech Scity’s mission to help grow new companies that use science and technology for public good.”

“At the core of our mission is a commitment to reimagining health care so it works better for everyone – especially those historically left behind,” said Michael Prilutsky, executive vice president, RWJBarnabas Health and CEO of RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group. “This innovative pilot goes beyond addressing immediate clinical challenges such as chronic hypertension. By supporting scalable, patient-centered solutions, we are helping to close system gaps and build a more connected, compassionate, and data-driven future for care delivery.

“This is not just a pilot – it’s the foundation for a new standard in health care.”

Biobeat founder and CEO Arik Ben Ishay said that his company is honored to partner with SciTech Scity and RWJBarnabas Health to bring Biobeat’s FDA-cleared, cuffless 24-hour blood pressure monitoring solution to the New Jersey community.

“Together, we are working to transform hypertension management with AI-powered innovation to drive better health outcomes and reduce cardiovascular risk across the state,” Ishay said.

Testimonial

Milagros “Mille” Ramos, a 63-year-old Hispanic mother of two and grandmother of four from North Bergen participated in the pilot. In fact, she was the first New Jersey resident – and one of the first in the nation – receive and use this innovative patch. She was also the first of some 50 individuals from Jersey City’s hypertension treatment program to participate, wearing the device in a home setting and enabling 24-hour monitoring of blood pressure fluctuations during daily, activities, sleep and period of stress.

Ramos has long struggled to adhere to regular monitoring with a traditional blood pressure cuff.

“This patch can change my life,” said Ramos. “My blood pressure fluctuates all the time, even with my medication. And I was always getting headaches from these fluctuations. So, when my cardiologist told me about this patch, I was eager to give it a try.”

She said that when the patch was adhered to her chest by a clinician, she did not even know it was on her.

This patch can change my life. … Really, it is just so much easier than using the standard blood pressure cuff and I’m very satisfied.
– Milagros “Mille” Ramos, pilot program participant

“I forgot about it until the next day when the app alerted me that it was time to take it off and throw it away,” Ramos recounted. “It also let me know that all the data was reported directly to my physician. Really, it is just so much easier than using the standard blood pressure cuff and I’m very satisfied.”

The only downside, Ramos noted, was that she could not shower while wearing the patch.

“But it was only one day,” she said. “Plus, I feel honored to be part of a program that can help not just me, but so many others with blood pressure problems.”

A look at the numbers

NJBIZ spoke about the innovative pilot program with Dr. Pragnesh Gadhvi, who oversees the Hypertension Program at Jersey City Medical Center. He noted how cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer across the country and globe — and how hypertension is one of the leading risk factors for it.

“But if we look at hypertension, what we’ve found is that that is probably the number one modifiable risk factor in terms of preventing cardiovascular disease,” Gadhvi told NJBIZ. “And then we look at the burden of hypertension in the United States. We know 120 million people are affected with high blood pressure, and unfortunately, only about half of them are on treatment.

“And what’s actually worse is that those patients that are on treatment for high blood pressure – only 1 in 4 four truly have controlled high blood pressure. This technology is tremendous – and this is the first time that we can employ this technology to populations outside of just a point-of-care clinical setting and be able to not only recognize many more people that may have a diagnosis of hypertension.

“But at the same time, having better ways to treat that.”

Gadhvi continued by discussing the traditional blood pressure cuffs used by patients who come into the office.

“What we found out – the majority of the time the blood pressures aren’t accurately representative of their true blood pressure,” he explained. “One – because, are we doing it right? Are the patients in a resting situation? Are they in an environment where there’s less anxiety? Then we rely on these blood pressure measurements to make treatment plans.”

How it works

And he noted that while the concept sounds simple, the technology is quite advanced.

“It uses something called photoplethysmography. It’s a simple patch that delivers wavelengths of light,” Gadhvi explained. “These wavelengths reflect the blood flow. Then, they’re translated via corroborated and scrutinized validation. They come up with a blood pressure profile, which is sort of a real-time, minute-to-minute blood pressure.

“And what we’re actually getting is blood pressure measurements every 15 minutes throughout a 24-hour period. This is very important because when we deal with high blood pressure – there’s a few things that we need to know. Blood pressure in the office – is that what we call white coat hypertension? What is the true blood pressure in the environment that the patient is normally at?

“We’re missing a lot.”

He said the new technology not only gives a better baseline – but it gives more information that would have never been known checking blood pressure in the traditional way.

“There are patients that typically don’t drop their blood pressures at night, which is called nocturnal dipping,” said Gadhvi. “These nocturnal dipping patterns and morning surges have outcomes associated with that – and have adverse outcomes. So, if we don’t recognize these, then we can’t implement therapies and the timing of blood pressure medications for these patients.”

‘Real-world application’

Gadhvi said the collaboration has been successful. “Number one, Jersey City Medical Center has had a long-time commitment, and their vision is to help the population – not only inside the hospital, but we want to really make an impact on the community. The Hudson County community is well in need in terms of access to care – and the population of patients that we have that are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and the prevalence of hypertension in the community is very high.

“So, to be able to launch a product that can be utilized in a more efficient and scalable way is unprecedented. This is the type of technology where, as a physician, as a specialist – this is the first time where we actually can see a real-world application where science and technology meet health care. And be able to disseminate this product.

“This is our partnership with SciTech Scity. We’ve decided to launch it with a 50-patient pilot. So far, we’ve disseminated about 80 devices.”

Gadhvi again cited the contrast between the traditional method and the ease of this technology – where patients would have to a wear a clunky monitor with the cuff attached to them.

“They wear this 24 hours a day. Every time the cuff inflates, that creates anxiety. They know that this is happening,” he explained. “They can’t sleep properly. So, you don’t get accurate measurements.

“But this simple patch is something that we can just put right on the chest – and it’s unobtrusive. The patients really don’t know that their blood pressure is being monitored – so it doesn’t cause that anxiety moment.”

Positive feedback

The doctor said if he had his wish, he would get these to 120 million people around world and get real-world measurements.

“And on top of that, once we start therapy – you can remeasure them and see if the therapy is working,” he said. “Do we need to up titrate medications during the day – during the evening? And we can really make real-world changes from the comfort of the patient’s own home.”

The feedback, Gadhvi says, has been amazing from the 70 or so patients that have been tested.

“It’s very comfortable. It’s very easy. And the data – the patients really can see in a much better way,” he explained, which he believes not only increases compliance but allows patients to be more proactive with their care. “This machine is disposable. They wear the patch. After 24 hours, they throw it in the garbage. All that data is given to us. Then from a computer screen, I can give the patient a call back saying, “Listen, we have all your measurements – and this is what we see. And this is what we’re going to do.”

“So, they can actually see how their life is affected in a positive way with the results.”

Next steps

Given all this, what comes next?

“The first phase of this launch was – number one – to disseminate it and to see how many patients we can get it out to,” said Gadhvi. “And we were quite successful with that. Number two, the next phase is getting it out into the community – letting all of our community providers know that this technology is available. They can come and register their patients. Their patients can come get these machines hooked up – and we can bring it to a broader range of the population.

“We can not only roll it out systemwide and make it available to more and more providers,” said Gadhvi. “I think what we’re really trying to do is trying to get as much of the population at-large that suffers from this or needs this type of screening – and being able to disseminate this product across-the-board and make it a normal vital sign.”