Omron Heartguide
Joe Lingeman for TIME

Monitoring Health

Omron HeartGuide
Omron Heartguide Joe Lingeman for TIME 

HeartGuide’s developers are quick to say it isn’t a wearable; it’s a blood-­pressure monitor that just happens to be worn on the wrist. That design is geared toward the 103 million Americans who have hyper­tension and struggle to check their readings in a consistent and inconspicuous way. “Those people spend about five hours a year talking with their physician, and about 5,000 hours a year at home, trying to deal with this on their own,” says Jeff Ray, executive director of business and technology at manufacturer Omron Healthcare. Integrating a blood-­pressure monitor into a sleek watch that also measures sleep and activity, Ray says, makes staying on top of cardiovascular health easy and provides a fuller picture of overall wellness. Customers and doctors clearly think it’s worth the $499 price tag: HeartGuide’s first run sold out so quickly that Omron doubled its production capabilities to produce around 2,000 devices a month. —Jamie Ducharme

Buy now: Omron HeartGuide

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