University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has teamed up with Ideal Life to pilot a wireless remote monitoring system that aims to help users better manage their high blood pressure. The Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) will direct the program, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Aging.

Here's how Ideal Life's wireless BP Manager device works, according to the company: "Users can quickly and easily capture, store, and send daily blood pressure readings directly to their healthcare team via a fully automated process. The BP Manager - used in conjunction with the IDEAL LIFE Pod, a Bluetooth-enabled wireless gateway - transmits real-time information through any mode of communication, including phone lines, cell phones, and the Internet."

Last year 900 hypertensive patients used Ideal Life's wireless devices to monitor their blood pressure and reduced their systolic blood pressure by an average of 10 mmHg (millimeters of mercury), according to the company's press release. The decrease brought many of the participants below the level typically defined as the limit for high blood pressure.

“IDEAL LIFE was selected for this program because it is the most flexible, affordable, and user-friendly remote monitoring system available,” Sara Czaha, Ph.D., co-director of the University of Miami’s Center on Aging, one of three prestigious academic centers participating in the CREATE program, stated in the press release. “Through our partnership with IDEAL LIFE, we will better understand how access to, and interaction with this technology impacts the health, quality of life, and functional independence of older adults, no matter where they might happen to live.”

Ideal Life also inked a deal with iVisit last week.

For more on the CREATE grant and blood pressure pilot, read the Ideal Life release here.