It seems like the promise of connected, doctor-monitored mobile and at-home
health services has been a little slow on the uptake, but here's a promising step: a new phone from Singaporean firm Ephone that can run an ECG on you and send off the results for analysis. In this case, though, it seems like your doctor can't provide you with this thing so he or she can keep an eye on your ticker -- instead, you've got to sign up for a subscription with Ephone that runs between about $71 and $215 a month (depending on the monthly ECG upload cap), at which point the company's own team of doctors can check out your results and make recommendations or dispatch emergency services if need be. The so-called EPI Life itself runs about $350 in some Asian markets, which can also be used to track glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure (presumably with external sensors) and there's a fancier model coming later in the year. Oh, and if you don't live in Asia, hang tight -- Ephone is looking to license the tech to other companies.
posted June 16th 2010 11:27PM
First!!!!
@JonnyB
To take a good old j!zzin?
(I hate stooping to these levels but come on man.)
Anyway, what will happen if the monthly fee is not paid and a subscriber is coding?
@F C rofl i dont see how this can alert them to send emergency dispatch as its not attached 24/7. Are you supposed to push the thing to your finger and wait for it to sync up while you're having a heart attack instead of dialing 911? Sounds like a gimmick to take money from elderly health oriented asians.
I hope lol
I have to say...this is very interesting tech and very practical too.
what'll be cooler is to apply it to existing smartphones via say the microphone jack
@joshky
I hope a medical professional will read this and can back me up on this... but I believe that this thing is useless. Even in the more extensive source links it seems like they want to make the consumer believe that you can make your own ECG by simply putting your finger to some sensors.
The way I've learned how a ECG works this is simply not possible and will never give you a reliable result. This is a rip-off device!
@joshky
It's pretty cool, but I actually don't know how practical it is. You might get lead II if they are reading the signal from one hand to the next... but diagnosing anything using a one lead EKG is questionable at best.
@ktakhisis
Don't know if you messed up your leads in your post (looks like you might have) but using both hands will only give you a lead I tracing. As Lead II is more like right arm/left leg.
My guess without digging into their website is that this is mainly meant to be like a holter monitor or event recorder that does sporadic monitoring of rate/rhythm and really isn't meant for anything other than to say things like 'you appear to be entering vtach, you may want to go to the hospital now' -- Come to think of it transtelephonic pacemaker monitors have little elastic watchbands that attach to each wrist (e.g. instromedix carryall).
@SeeKo
We were thinking the same thing, so we actually looked at the device, and went through the medical literature to see how useful it could potentially be for real life cardiovascular pathologies:
http://www.imedicalapps.com/2010/06/epi-life-ecg-mobile-health-phone-heart-attac/
Oh great. Debbie Downer goes mobile. No thank you.
@Trickymaster "He's dead, Jim--oh hold on I got a call....YO! What's up....nothing....."
Great, this way I know whether it's worth calling 911 after getting shot in the street. Thanks EPhone!
@kwirtee
look at it this way, while you're bleeding out you can scope your glucose levels real quick.
Send you life straight to voice mail.
Medical professionals use Holter Monitors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holter_monitor
The phone isn't going to save your life. If you think you're having a heart attack, call an ambulance. You really don't want to rely on 'oh.. I'm not feeling well'.. pressing some button... data arriving in someone's inbox.. then evaluated and THEN sending an ambulance.
No need to delay an ambulance with an intermediate step.