Study: British ear electrical stimulation device may help patients with hypertension lower blood pressure

2026/10/19 12:15

An experiment testing a small ear stimulation device found that it may help lower blood pressure in patients with persistently high blood pressure. The picture shows a diagram of the ear. (Extracted from freepik)

[Compiled by Xie Yizhe/Comprehensive Report] A British experiment testing a small ear stimulation device found that the device may be able to help lower blood pressure in patients whose drug control is not effective and whose blood pressure remains high. The study was published in the journal Hypertension.

According to the science website "SciTechDaily", it is important to find more ways to control blood pressure because many people who are receiving treatment still have blood pressure above the recommended target value. Long-term high blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction and stroke. In this regard, "Afferent Medical Solutions", a British company engaged in bioelectronic medicine and neuromodulation medical technology, has developed a unique device that stimulates the nervous system through the ear.

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The device delivers mild electrical pulses through two clips attached to the tragus, targeting the autonomic nervous system. This nervous system is responsible for regulating many body functions that are not under direct conscious control, including blood pressure regulation. A research team from Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom tested whether the device can help patients with hypertension lower their blood pressure in experiments.

This experiment included 63 patients with hypertension. Although they were taking one or more blood pressure-lowering drugs, their hypertension was not effectively controlled. The research team randomly assigned participants to 2 groups. The first group received real electrical stimulation treatment, and the second group used a placebo device (a device that does not provide effective stimulation) to compare the treatment results of the 2 groups.

Participants used the device for 30 minutes a day for the first two weeks of the trial, then once a week for the next 10 weeks. Participants generally adhered to the treatment schedule, and the treatment demonstrated good safety and tolerability throughout the trial.

The trial results showed that in the overall study population, the blood pressure of patients who actually received electrical stimulation treatment was not significantly greater than that of patients who used a placebo device. But group analysis planned by the research team showed that patients with more severe hypertension at the start of the trial experienced greater reductions in blood pressure after receiving the actual electrical stimulation treatment than those in the placebo device group.

The research team stated that this is an exciting technology that is highly accepted by patients with hypertension, and is expected to eventually provide millions of people with a low-cost solution that can be promoted on a large scale. The researchers claim that this trial points to important new research directions and will help scientists further understand whether non-invasive neuromodulation can help improve the condition of some patients with poorly controlled blood pressure.

The research team emphasized that larger clinical trials are still needed in the future and studies are conducted on specific groups of patients with hypertension to confirm which patients can benefit from this treatment.