At Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), researchers developed a tiny ECG monitor that can be worn on the body and communicate the patient’s data to a doctor through a cell phone interface. From the article in the Hindustan Times:
Algorithms fed in its system enable the locket to distinguish between jerks from running, working out or climbing stairs, and irrythmic heartbeats. Worn with five electrodes on the chest, a sensor in the locket records the heart’s electrical activity or ECG.
If it detects abnormalities, it can automatically transmit the last few seconds of ECG data to a central server using a mobile phone interface.
“We use trans-telephonic ECG devices to transmit ECG from villages through telephone lines, but the IIT device is more sophisticated,” said Dr Shetty. “It definitely has clinical applications, however, they’ll have to come up with a perfect product, since you cannot take chances with life.”
When a user feels uneasy, he can press a locket button to ‘mark’ that data so a doctor can later scrutinise marked segments and check the heart’s activity before the irregularity. Connected to a cell phone, the locket can be programmed to send SMS containing marked data to a doctor. Software in the locket forwards the data to the mobile, which sends the SMS.
More at the Hindustan Times…