New Software Conveniently Integrates Your Heart Implant With Your Android Phone

IMEC ECG Necklace IMEC

The new Human++ system adds one very powerful new peripheral to Android smartphones: your own body. It interprets electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, and can be used for medicinal or recreational purposes: Let your doctor know that you're having a heart attack, or let your Facebook friends know that you're playing basketball.

Created by Dutch research firm IMEC, Human++ is a type of wireless BAN (body area network). This particular version uses a dongle that actually plugs into your phone's microSD slot (which is one reason it's limited to Android--the iPhone, for one, doesn't have a microSD slot) and receives data over a low-power radio system. Though Bluetooth is more popular, the nRF24L01+ frequency was chosen for its low power requirements. IMEC says a Bluetooth connection would barely last the day, while the RF frequency can last a week.

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Technology, Dan Nosowitz, android, consumer tech, gadgets, health, heart attack, medicine, patients, smartphones, wireless

There are non-medical uses for the tech too--athletes and trainers are interested in the ability to remotely track the inner workings of the body in real-time. It's not clear how the system might work with phones, like iOS, Palm WebOS, and Microsoft Windows Phone devices, that don't have expandable microSD slots--maybe an external dongle, rather than a (neater, certainly) internal one.

Using consumer tech to monitor health seems to be a big trend these days: Webcam monitoring, infrared glucose tests, and all kinds of helpful machines are popping up, using gadgets we already have in new and helpful ways.

The Human++ system is still in development, but shows a ton of promise, as proven by the positive reaction it got upon its introduction at this year's Wireless Health Conference in San Diego.

[New Scientist]