A health monitoring device, comprising: a blood pressure sensor (230, 310) including a first fiber Bragg grating configured to be placed in contact with a person's skin approximate to an artery or vein, the first fiber Bragg grating having a refractive index and a first Bragg wavelength; a baseline sensor including a second fiber Bragg grating configured to be placed in contact with a person's skin away from an artery or vein, the second fiber Bragg grating having a second Bragg wavelength, being configured to perform a real time baseline measurement, and providing a baseline refractive index; a light emitter configured to pulse light waves through the FBGs; a light sensor configured to receive pulsed light waves; a processor including: a data acquisition module configured to receive from the light sensor peak wavelengths reflected by the FBGs; a comparator configured to determine the effective shifts of the first Bragg wavelength and effective shifts of the second Bragg wavelength, due to axial strain on the FBGs; and a blood pressure estimator configured to estimate systolic and diastolic blood pressure based on a calibration curve, along effective shifts in the Bragg wavelength of the blood pressure sensor (230, 310) and the baseline sensor; and a display (250, 390) for providing the estimated systolic and diastolic blood pressure, wherein the health monitoring device is configured to use a pulsatile component of the shifts of the first Bragg wavelength for measuring a BP waveform, and is configured to use non-pulsatile wavelength shifts of the second Bragg wavelength for correcting for blood pressure waveform baseline shifts. a blood pressure sensor (230, 310) including a first fiber Bragg grating configured to be placed in contact with a person's skin approximate to an artery or vein, the first fiber Bragg grating having a refractive index and a first Bragg wavelength; a baseline sensor including a second fiber Bragg grating configured to be placed in contact with a person's skin away from an artery or vein, the second fiber Bragg grating having a second Bragg wavelength, being configured to perform a real time baseline measurement, and providing a baseline refractive index; a light emitter configured to pulse light waves through the FBGs; a light sensor configured to receive pulsed light waves; a processor including: a data acquisition module configured to receive from the light sensor peak wavelengths reflected by the FBGs; a comparator configured to determine the effective shifts of the first Bragg wavelength and effective shifts of the second Bragg wavelength, due to axial strain on the FBGs; and a blood pressure estimator configured to estimate systolic and diastolic blood pressure based on a calibration curve, along effective shifts in the Bragg wavelength of the blood pressure sensor (230, 310) and the baseline sensor; and a display (250, 390) for providing the estimated systolic and diastolic blood pressure, wherein the health monitoring device is configured to use a pulsatile component of the shifts of the first Bragg wavelength for measuring a BP waveform, and is configured to use non-pulsatile wavelength shifts of the second Bragg wavelength for correcting for blood pressure waveform baseline shifts. a data acquisition module configured to receive from the light sensor peak wavelengths reflected by the FBGs; a comparator configured to determine the effective shifts of the first Bragg wavelength and effective shifts of the second Bragg wavelength, due to axial strain on the FBGs; and a blood pressure estimator configured to estimate systolic and diastolic blood pressure based on a calibration curve, along effective shifts in the Bragg wavelength of the blood pressure sensor (230, 310) and the baseline sensor; and a display (250, 390) for providing the estimated systolic and diastolic blood pressure, wherein the health monitoring device is configured to use a pulsatile component of the shifts of the first Bragg wavelength for measuring a BP waveform, and is configured to use non-pulsatile wavelength shifts of the second Bragg wavelength for correcting for blood pressure waveform baseline shifts.