Underwear Heart Monitor to Warn of Strokes

A group of 33 firms, including Nokia and Philips, have unveiled the prototype of a portable heart monitor that would use sensors woven into underwear to warn patients before they suffer a stroke.

The system, which requires further research, keeps track of important risk factors for heart disease, such as inactivity, poor sleep and stress. Software will help patients become more active and lose weight if needed. MyHeart, a European Union supported research project, involves healthcare, electronics and communications companies. Among them are the world’s leading handset maker Nokia, mobile carrier Vodafone, top three hospital equipment maker and Europe’s biggest consumer electronics Philips, U.S.-based medical devices maker Medtronic and the Mayo Clinic. The research project was presented at the TEDMED conference in Charleston, South Carolina, and will last for several years. A participating company gave details to Reuters in Amsterdam. Among challenges facing the development of such a heart monitor are the need for the sensors to be worn continuously and for clever software to distinguish between increased heart rates that are due to physical exercise or to stress. “The overall goal is to determine whether an individual is maintaining a good condition and is in good health by continuously monitoring vital signs such as electrocardiogram, respiration or skin impedance,” they said in a statement.(Source: Reuters Health: October 2004.)