Mar 14 2008
OMRON HEALTHCARE Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Omron Corporation and a leading manufacturer of medical, home healthcare, and wellness products, has developed the HEM-SOLAR Series, solar-powered digital blood pressure monitors, for release worldwide in spring 2009.
"HEM-SOLAR monitors will allow health practitioners and individuals to take blood pressure readings wherever sunlight is available," says Keiichiro Akahoshi, representative director and CEO of Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd. "The development of this series further illustrates Omron's commitment to environmental stewardship."
Omron Healthcare has developed two blood pressure monitors for the series, a manual upper-arm and automatic upper-arm model. Both are charged by exposure to sunlight through the solar panel at the back of the product. After just four hours of direct exposure to sunlight, the manual model can take more than 100 readings while the automatic model can take 28 readings. When fully charged (requires approximately 15 hours with the manual model and 24 hours with the automatic model), the manual model can take measurements more than 280 times and the automatic model more than 100 times. Wherever sunlight is available, the monitors facilitate easy readings, regardless of proximity to an electrical supply source.
The products feature AES (*1) plastic material, which is durable against UV light; an important component given the device's frequent exposure to sunlight. The devices also feature embossed buttons on the front panel to protect against exposure to precipitation.
Omron Healthcare aims to release the products in Spring 2009 and will continue R&D efforts to improve device quality with respect to temperature and humidity, and will make the devices more airtight so that they can be recharged under a wider variety of conditions.
The HEM-SOLAR blood pressure monitors are environmentally conscious and use rechargeable batteries, not regular batteries, to reduce waste and emit less Co2 by using solar energy. Given the product's lifespan of 30,000 uses, the amount of waste materials that can be reduced is 80 batteries with the manual model and 400 batteries with the automatic model.
Omron Healthcare has proactively been working on developing environmentally-friendly products for some time. In 2004, it started responding to RoHS (*2), a European regulation for use of harmful materials - ahead of other manufacturers, and applying it to 99 percent of its products (*3) even though RoHS does not regulate blood pressure monitors (*4). In the near future, the company will respond 100 percent to RoHS guidelines on blood pressure monitors and spread worldwide its approach as an environmentally friendly company through the creation of products such as the HEM-SOLAR Series.
*1 AES plastic resin = Acrylonitrile/ Ethylene-propylene-diene/ Styrene plastic-resin plastic that has higher durability in various climates.
*2 RoHS = Restriction on Hazardous Substances - European legislation intended to eliminate or severely curtail the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl eher (PBDE) in all products from automobiles to consumer electronics.
*3 Omron Healthcare's products responding to the RoHS Directive can be found here: https://www.healthcare.omron.co.jp/
*4 As of March 2008. https://www.healthcare.omron.co.jp/