Medical monitor developer LifeWatch has launched the world’s first medical smartphone, for Android-powered devices. The smartphone has built-in sensors for monitoring heart rate, pulmonary function, blood sugar levels, body temperature and galvanic skin response (which measures psychological pressure), and other physiological variables. The system can also measure blood pressure with an attached sleeve, and can analyse blood samples.
LifeWatch has developed a range of wireless monitoring devices for emergency rooms and medical services, as well as for personal use, but this is the first time that it has combined these capabilities on a smartphone. Chinese branded mobile phone manufacturer TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology will manufacture the platform for LifeWatch.
LifeWatch develops the medical applications hardware and software that connects the hardware with the smartphone’s systems. A German company is responsible for the design. LifeWatch invested several million dollars in the product.
The mobile-health interface is a hot development field in the world. There are various devices, not mobile phones, which collate and transmit medical data, and present them to users, and there are medical mobile applications for managing fitness, medication regimes, and even skin cancer diagnosis by photo analysis. There are also companies developing proprietary sensors for measuring a single medical variable, such as blood glucose levels or heartbeat, for integration with smartphones.
EH News Bureau
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