Vascular age (known as Cardiovascular Age in the Oura App) reflects how well or how poorly a person’s arteries are aging relative to their actual age. For instance, a 50-year-old could have the arteries of a 70-year-old, and vice versa. This metric serves as a critical benchmark for overall heart health. 

How the Technology Works

Traditionally, measuring vascular age requires specialist equipment confined to clinics and research lab. However, the new study focuses on analyzing photoplethysmography (PPG) data which is the standard light-based pulse technology used by fitness trackers to monitor heart rates.

• Passive Data Collection: The Oura Ring gathered these pulse signals automatically while users slept.

• High Accuracy: Even though smart rings and clinical finger sensors detect pulse waves differently, the deep learning AI predicted vascular age with similar accuracy from both devices. The model predicted vascular age within an average margin of 6 to 7 years, aligning closely with the subjects' actual ages.

“Our findings lend credence to moving cardiovascular monitoring out of the clinic and into everyday life. Wearable-derived vascular age could, in time, support earlier detection of cardiovascular risk, reinforce positive lifestyle habits, and feed into large-scale population health studies,” says Prof. Michael Chee of the Centre of Sleep and Cognition, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, the study’s principal investigator and Oura medical advisor.

“This study also shows that Oura’s proprietary PPG sensing approach and data collection during sleep make nightly readings feasible in the field,” Chee adds. 

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