Denmark-based medical device company Sense A/S just announced a €4.5 million ($5.9 million) round of funding from venture fund SEED Capital and Vaekstfonden to help it refine its cuffless blood pressure measurement device. The company expects to secure FDA 510(K) clearance for the device and have it launch commercially next year. (Last year SEED invested $2.3 million in another Danish startup, fitness app developer Endomondo.) Sense A/S argues that measuring blood pressure at a physicians’ office via the cuff method is not the most efficient or effective way. “This solution has a number of challenges including discomfort with the measurement itself and nervousness during the consultation which both may contribute to erroneous measurements,” the company explained in a statement. “In addition, the realization is that a variety of cardiovascular diseases can be diagnosed much better by measuring blood pressure over a standard 24-hour circadian rhythm, and for this the cuff method is not very suitable.”
