For years, cuffless blood pressure monitors have been one of the most hyped categories in wearable health tech, but medical societies worldwide have kept their distance. The main sticking points: no standardized way to validate accuracy, and real concerns about whether these devices actually perform well enough to trust in clinical settings. That reluctance has started to crack.

South Korea’s Korean Society of Hypertension (KSH) has officially recommended ring-type cuffless blood pressure monitoring in its newly revised national hypertension treatment guidelines, the sixth edition of its clinical management guidelines. The recommendation covers the use of a blood pressure ring for out-of-office monitoring in patients with prehypertension and high-risk groups who need close BP control. No other country’s major hypertension society has gone this far with cuffless technology.

The specific device cited in the guidelines is the CART BP pro, made by South Korean medtech company Sky Labs. The KSH pointed to research showing the ring delivers results comparable to traditional measurement methods, giving clinicians a concrete evidence base to work from when prescribing it to patients.

What the guidelines actually say

The KSH classified the CART BP pro as a Class IIb device, which means it can be considered as an option, though it is not a first-line recommendation. In practice, the classification still matters because it gives doctors clear institutional backing when they choose to prescribe it.

Sky Labs told MobiHealthNews: “The explicit inclusion of CART BP pro in the official clinical practice guidelines means that when a physician prescribes it, the action carries clear justification as a medical procedure whose safety and accuracy have been scientifically and clinically validated. This establishes an institutional foundation that allows medical professionals to prescribe CART BP pro with absolute peace of mind.”

The KSH’s decision to include the ring rested on accuracy data showing the device met ISO 81060 requirements when compared with standard 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM):

• Mean error within 5 mmHg
• Standard deviation within 8 mmHg
• Accurate during both daytime and nighttime monitoring

Why cuffless monitoring matters for hypertension patients

Traditional blood pressure cuffs work, but they have well-documented problems in real-world use. Compression pain, sleep disturbance during overnight monitoring, and general inconvenience all reduce how consistently patients actually use them. That inconsistency is a clinical problem, not just a comfort issue, because some of the most dangerous BP patterns only show up at specific times of day.

Korean research cited in the guidelines illustrates this clearly. One local study found nocturnal hypertension, defined as a BP of at least 120/70 mmHg during sleep, in roughly 18 to 23 percent of the general population. More than nine in ten of those people had masked hypertension, meaning their daytime readings appeared normal while their overnight BP remained elevated, along with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. A separate Korean study found morning hypertension, a BP of at least 135/85 mmHg early in the day, in 15.9 percent of hypertension patients.

A ring worn continuously through the night, without the compression of a cuff, is better suited to catch these patterns than periodic manual readings.

How the 2026 guidelines tightened BP targets overall

The ring recommendation sits inside a broader update to South Korea’s hypertension management approach. The 2026 KSH guidelines also:

• Set a stricter BP target of below 130/80 mmHg for patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, stroke history, or high-risk hypertension
• Recommended 24-hour ABPM to accurately evaluate both nocturnal and morning hypertension
• Suggested patients with prehypertension actively consider ABPM or home BP measurement to detect masked hypertension early

The overall direction is toward more continuous, more detailed monitoring, which is where wearable BP technology fits in.

Sky Labs’ position and what comes next

The CART BP pro uses photoplethysmography, the optical sensor technology also found in most smartwatches, combined with deep learning AI to analyze blood pressure data. South Korea’s National Health Insurance added the device to its reimbursement list in June 2024, and since then it has been prescribed more than 250,000 times and is actively used in nearly 2,000 hospitals and clinics across the country.

With the guideline inclusion now official, CEO Jack ByungHwan Lee said Sky Labs plans to push for regulatory approvals in other markets to establish what the company describes as a new global standard in hypertension management.

The KSH is also running a five-year large-scale cohort study using the CART BP pro to track long-term outcomes in hypertension patients. Sky Labs said the data gathered through that study could eventually support an upgrade in the device’s recommendation grade in future guideline revisions, potentially moving it from a Class IIb consideration to a stronger recommendation.

For the broader wearable health industry, South Korea’s move is significant. It shows that cuffless BP monitoring can clear the bar for formal clinical recognition when the accuracy data is there. Other national health bodies will be watching closely.