Abstract— For low-income countries, hypertension is the leading cause of death. Preeclampsia, a disorder often characterized by high blood pressure, is the second leading killer of pregnant women globally. Preeclampsia can be treated cheaply and effectively but very few women receive appropriate prenatal care. There are many different devices to measure blood pressure but they are poorly suited for use in developing countries. Great care has to be taken to engineer a device that incorporates the human-factors involved while maintaining affordability. A prototype of a low-cost device engineered specifically for semi-literate volunteers in developing countries has been created. Preliminary testing has shown reliable hypertension detection and plans have been made for field testing in rural communities this August 2010 in Nepal. I. INTRODUCTION ne of the biggest disputes in the government right now concerns the astronomical deficit generated primarily by health care. The United States spent more than $2.3 trillion on health care in 2008 according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and it does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon [1]. In addition to tightening the reins on wasteful spending and changing health insurance policies, it is necessary to find innovative new solutions to these very expensive problems. Luckily, the investigation for low cost solutions can be greatly beneficial for people in developing nations who face similar problems with excessive spending. Figure 1 Mortality for countries at different income levels by cause [2] Global health care needs vary largely with the income level of the country so it is difficult to generalize what the biggest problems are worldwide. Consistently, countries with lower incomes have higher mortality rates; however the most fatal disorders differ with income level. For developing countries, high blood pressure is the leading cause of death [2]. While it may be challenging to combat the causes of death directly, identifying the risks appropriately and dealing with those problems will have a large impact on preventable deaths. According to Gaziano et al, suboptimal blood pressure can have a severe economic impact. Healthcare costs due to blood pressure problems have been estimated to be upwards of $370 billion or 10% of the world’s healthcare expenditures in 2001. Over a 10-year period, suboptimal blood pressure has been predicted to cost nearly $1 trillion globally with indirect costs reaching $3.6 trillion annually [3]. High blood pressure incurs costs far beyond that of the medication used to combat it. Hypertension often leads to more complicated conditions such as heart disease which may demand expensive treatment or surgery. In developing countries, very few people are even screened for suboptimal blood pressure. This is due to the downfalls in the design of the devices currently available, and the amount of training that is often required to operate them. One example of a disorder that is receiving a lot of press and funding recently is preeclampsia. Preeclampsia occurs during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and can have negative effects on both the mother and the unborn child. It is the second largest killer of pregnant women; characterized by proteinuria (protein in the urine), and hypertension (systolic blood pressure greater than 140mmHg or diastolic blood pressure greater than 90mmHg). After onset, there is typically damage to the mother’s liver, kidneys, and endothelium in addition to vasoconstrictive factors being released which account for the increase in blood pressure. Preeclampsia refers to a set of symptoms rather than an underlying cause, which makes it relatively easy to screen for with the appropriate tools. Preeclampsia is very treatable through the injection of magnesium sulfate, which is both cheap and effective. But this relies on an accurate and early recognition of the disorder [4]. Extremely few mothers die from preeclampsia in developed countries where prenatal care is very common. Unfortunately, very few women in developing countries receive the appropriate prenatal care required for diagnosis. Hypertension Detector for Developing Countries Trachtenberg M. 1 , Lee S. 1 , Jayaram G. 1 , Acharya S. 1 , Sanghvi H. 2 , Thakor N. 1 The Johns Hopkins University 1 , JHPIEGO 2 O