IBM prototye of wristwatch to monitor heart

17 December 2002 -- PMN -- IBM has developed a Bluetooth solution for monitoring heart rate and sending a 'distress' alert if the wearer suffers any problems. The system wirelessly relays the alert from the heart rate monitor to a mobile telephone, which then sends a text message to a relative or doctor.

The solution uses standard equipment and requires only the addition of a relay device about the size of a pack of chewing gum.

"We've not only built a new concept model but have actually demonstrated this first-of-a-kind device, proving it works," said Pat Toole, general manager of IBM Engineering & Technology Services. "A device such as this that sends out an alarm also could be worn by an elderly person who might find additional comfort in knowing any significant heart-related episode would be reported. This could offer great peace of mind for those in need of assisted living."
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK -- Bikers, joggers and the elderly in distress might someday get help from an unlikely source: IBM. A new technology developed by the world's biggest seller of computers and services would automatically notify family members or medical professionals if a user fell ill from overexertion. The device, known as the Peace of Mind, wirelessly links a small heart monitor with a cell phone or other mobile device to function, and IBM says it could save lives.

"It's a technology that needs to be developed, and we see that it has a lot of potential," said Spiros Teleoglou, an engineering manager for IBM's Engineering & Technology Services division in Research Triangle Park who helped with the invention. "This device can be used in multiple industries, including medical, consumer and athletics."

IBM put a team of researchers to work on the project in the early summer with the goal of licensing it to an unidentified corporate customer in Europe. It's just one device in development by IBM's Engineering & Technology Services division, made up of 700 workers, including 22 at the company's sprawling Research Triangle Park campus of more than 13,000 employees.

The unit's mission "really is to figure out ways to help the customer figure out a whole new revenue stream," said IBM spokesman Cary Ziter. "This is not a product from IBM, it's a technology."

If the European client is uninterested, IBM might find other customers willing to buy. It has talked with a variety of companies, but declined to identify them.

IBM, which can't say when devices using its technology might hit the market, is not alone in its efforts. Digital Angel in South St. Paul, Minn., has a wristwatch-size health-monitoring device that automatically summons assistance using a satellite chip to pinpoint the location of those who are ill. And Medtronic, the world's biggest pacemaker manufacturer, sells implantable heart-monitoring devices (see story below).

For IBM's Peace of Mind device to work, users must attach a heart-rate measuring patch to their chests. It's a tool that is readily available and often worn by athletes to track their heart rates.

A relay device about the size of a pack of chewing gum is set to work with the monitor. When a user's heart rate rises above a specified limit or stops altogether, the system kicks into action.

The relay device sends a signal using Bluetooth,an increasingly popular wireless transmission standard, to a cell phone or personal digital assistant loaded with IBM software that the user must carry. The phone is programmed to call or send a text message to specific contacts in emergencies to initiate a rescue.

Although it might sound cumbersome, Teleoglou says it's not because users don't need wires strung all over their bodies.

"The industry is working to make cell phones and other devices very small and very convenient to carry in your pocket or pocketbook," Teleoglou said. "The smaller the size of the wireless device, the more popular the entire solution can be."

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tiny device that reads a heart rate monitor and automatically sends a warning call to a predetermined cell phone number if the user is in distress, could soon aid people at high risk of cardiac problems.

A team from IBM Engineering and Technology Services has successfully tested the relay device and is actively seeking a customer to turn it into a consumer product, the company said.

It remains to be seen whether the instrument will be produced and marketed by a medical device company, a cell phone network provider or an athletic equipment manufacturer. But the designers see a variety of uses for it and are busy working on variations on the theme.

While portable heart rate monitors have been available to joggers, cyclists, heart patients and assorted weekend warriors for some time, this device goes a couple of steps further, explained Bryan Striemer, a development engineer for IBM and one of the inventors.

"Suddenly we were able to send heart rate information over cell phone networks," Striemer told Reuters in a telephone interview from Rochester, Minnesota.

The device uses radio frequency wireless technology, such as short-range Bluetooth technology, to read a heart monitor. When a predetermined heart rate that signals possible cardiac distress is reached, the device automatically sends a text message alert via cell phone to any pre-programmed cell phone number, such as a physician, care-giver or the emergency services.

Striemer said the developers initially focused on uses for the elderly -- "somebody who wanted to be independent and live alone but they have a heart condition that they wanted to have monitored all the time.

In addition to its potential life-saving function for those who want to continue a vigorous exercise regimen but are at risk for heart problems, the device could send heart rate information from runners or cyclists to coaches or conditioning trainers for reference.

Its convenient size should make it attractive to runners or other athletes who are not willing to take on extra weight or carry around cumbersome devices. "Our device is the size and shape of a few sticks of chewing gum," Striemer said.

Of course, the user must have a cell phone and it must be turned on to automatically transmit the crucial information.

Striemer is working on incorporating global positioning technology into a version of the device that would enable an elderly person or someone suffering from Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites) who became lost or confused to send their whereabouts to their children or a designated care-giver's cell phone.

He also has a pedometer version in the works to allow athletes to send distance information to coaches or to a training database.

No price structure has been determined for the device, but a spokesman for IBM Engineering and Technology Services said they were determined to make it affordable for the average consumer.

"What I would love to see in next coming months is that this would be available in your local athletic store and be in a price range of similar gadgets," Striemer said.

IBM develops Bluetooth heart monitor