Monitoring the Heart over the Internet

01/10/2013

ElectroSmart ECG, a project for creating a portable device capable of performing high-quality, precise electrocardiograms remotely and in a cost-effective manner has won the 2013 FRIDA Award in the Development category as one of the most innovative proposals submitted this year.

Driven by a group of Argentine researchers, the project aims at creating a low-cost electrocardiograph capable of digitizing and processing a patient’s heart signals and sending them to a mobile device, either via Bluetooth or over the Internet.  Jonathan Vainstein, one of the project’s leaders, told Lacnic News that the idea is to produce a low-cost yet versatile device for patients who need constant monitoring in their homes.

“The key aspects we considered when specifying the prototype were minimizing the cost of the final product (by reusing capabilities already present in mobile devices), while not compromising monitoring quality, thus making sure that the final product is equivalent to a medical device,” added Vainstein.

The Argentinian researcher highlighted the project’s participation in the 2013 edition of the FRIDA Awards and pointed out that what motivated them to participate in the call for proposals was that they were “in the process of developing an innovative product that combines the use of mobile technologies and the Internet.” In Vainstein’s opinion, ElectroSmart ECG is a great contribution to the ICT ecosystem and will have a positive impact on large sectors of Latin America’s population.”