Wearable Ultrasound in Cardiovascular Monitoring: Clinical Evidence and Translational Challenges

Wearable ultrasound is emerging as a promising approach for continuous cardiovascular monitoring, extending conventional ultrasound from intermittent examinations to prolonged, hands-free assessment. This review summarizes recent progress in these major cardiovascular applications, with particular attention to their clinical validation and translational potential.

A literature search was performed using PubMed (January 2021 to August 2026) utilizing keywords related to wearable ultrasound (e.g., "wearable", "skin-mounted", "ultrasound", "Doppler") combined with cardiovascular terms. Eligible original research articles, including human studies, animal investigations, and ultrasound sensing-platform studies that demonstrated relevant mechanisms or technical feasibility, were selected.

Recent advances in flexible transducers, stable acoustic coupling, and automated signal analysis have enabled continuous cardiac imaging, non-invasive blood pressure monitoring, and dynamic assessment of vascular hemodynamics and arterial stiffness. Current studies have demonstrated continuous acquisition of cardiac images and functional parameters, cuffless blood pressure tracking under dynamic conditions, and wearable measurement of vascular flow and local arterial mechanical properties. Among these applications, continuous cuffless blood pressure monitoring currently has the most mature clinical validation. However, most applications remain at the physiological validation or early clinical feasibility stage, and evidence for long-term reliability, generalizability, and clinical benefit is still limited.

Future research should focus on robust continuous monitoring in real-world patients and on demonstrating whether wearable ultrasound can provide clinically actionable information beyond conventional intermittent ultrasound.