The frequent use of a cellphone has been linked to health problems such as cancer, but a Singapore company has now turned the cellphone into a potentially life-saving device.
Ephone International (EPI) has shrunk an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine and fitted it into a mobile phone no bigger or heavier than a usual phone. The revolutionary mobile phone device that has an integrated multi-lead ECG and Health Suite function, will be especially useful for those who have been diagnosed with a heart disease and carry a high risk of suffering a heart attack. For the first time, users will be able to take an ECG reading of your heart rhythm at home, at work or even in the subway and all that without having to deal with complicated instruction, messy gels and electrodes. Readings will then be transmitted to its 24 hour Personal Health Concierge centre and a reply will be sent to the device within minutes.
ECG is a recording of the heart’s electrical pattern and is used to detect heart diseases. EPI has done a prospective clinical study on 30 patients to compare the results of ECG recordings taken using hospital equipment as well as the phone. The results have been submitted to the Journal of American College of Cardiology for publication.
The phone — known as EPI Life — can take an ECG reading of the heart, have the reading sent to medical experts for analysis and receive a diagnosis within a span of two to three minutes. A prompt analysis of the heart’s rhythm and pattern is vital in cases of a cardiac arrest, as there is only a narrow window of time, usually a matter of minutes, before it is too late to save the patient. With a drive now to have more automated external defibrillators available in public, this device will be useful.
The 2.8 inch full touch screen EPI Life comes with full-fledged mobile phone capabilities including multimedia suite, calendar, Internet browser, and even a built-in camera with screen viewfinder and dedicated menus. It offers health suite services such as blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol input and monitoring.
EPI has tied up with local phone service provider SingTel and will charge customers an instalment package of S$199 a month for two years. The technology firm has filed for patents in more than 160 countries and claims to have produced the world’s first mobile phone that can perform an ECG. It cost S$1.5 million and took more than 10 years to come up with this technology.
Instead of strapping electrodes to their chests, as is typical when getting an ECG reading, users will need only to press two fingers on the phone’s edges for 30 seconds for the phone to pick up a reading.
It is just as accurate, claims EPI’s chairman, cardiologist Michael Lim.
There are also several other portable devices in the market which can record an ECG. Many, however, are bulky, require electrodes or pads and cannot transmit readings immediately to a doctor.
Via The Stratis Times (December 5, 2009) & EPI Life