Ford's new heart rate monitoring seat keeps you clinically ahead on road

In today’s competitive business environment, increasing work pressures, imbalance work life and many other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressures are leading to heart diseases. Detection of heart disease on time or having a regular monitoring of heart especially on the go is essential to take preventive measures. Keeping the above in view, to assist in providing regular health checks, Ford Motor researchers have developed a heart monitoring seat with electrode sensing technology. It is a joint development of the Ford European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany and Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University.

heart rate monitoring ford seat

The heart monitoring seat is a new aspect added to the company’s In-car health and wellness research portfolio. The seat checks the driver’s heart activity by positioning it on the surface of the seat backrest. The main aim of developing this seat is to help people with chronic illnesses or medical disorders manage their heart condition while driving. The seat operates with six special embedded sensors to detect electrical impulses generated by the heart through clothing. Dr. Achim Lindner, Ford European Research and Innovation Centre medical officer says that 'the sensors use a very specially designed system and researched materials which would provide a good signal without contact on the skin.'

The seat sensors collect the data about the heart conditions which can later be analyzed by the medical experts. It also provides prompt health information as well as alerts of cardiovascular issues such as heart attacks. The company has also announced its research about Ford SYNC and its ability to connect devices via Bluetooth, access Internet services and smartphone apps. This research is to develop a voice-controlled in-car connections to an array of health aids from glucose monitoring devices, diabetes management services, asthma management tools and Web-based allergen alert solutions.

Via: PRNewswire