Heart Watchers
Monitoring Heart Failure
A 15-centimeter wireless sensor (right) approved this spring by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is part of a monitoring system now being marketed. The system spots signs of heart failure by detecting fluid buildup in the lungs and elsewhere in the body–a hallmark of heart failure–and analyzing the patient’s activity levels, heart rate, and respiration. When attached to a patient’s chest, it beams data to a special cell-phone-like gadget in the person’s pocket or somewhere nearby. From there, the information is wirelessly transmitted to the company’s servers. Algorithms detect anomalies, and physicians receive the data via the Web or a mobile device.
Credit: Bruce Peterson
Product: PiiX sensor device; zLink portable transmitter
Cost: $400 to $700
Source: www.corventis.com
Company: Corventis
Detecting Heart Attacks
AngelMed’s implantable device (left) alerts high-risk patients when they show signs of a heart attack and could help them get medical attention sooner. Whereas existing implantable devices are designed to detect electrical irregularities in the heart, known as arrhythmias, this device uses novel algorithms to detect problems with blood flow. The device picks up a subtle abnormality in electrical current that occurs when one of the coronary arteries is blocked by a clot. When the device detects these signs of heart attack, it generates a buzz that the patient can feel, alerting him or her to call 911. Approved in Brazil, the device is undergoing clinical testing in the United States.
Courtesy of Angelmed
Keep Reading
Most Popular
The inside story of how ChatGPT was built from the people who made it
Exclusive conversations that take us behind the scenes of a cultural phenomenon.
How Rust went from a side project to the world’s most-loved programming language
For decades, coders wrote critical systems in C and C++. Now they turn to Rust.
Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?
An approach that promised to democratize design may have done the opposite.
Sam Altman invested $180 million into a company trying to delay death
Can anti-aging breakthroughs add 10 healthy years to the human life span? The CEO of OpenAI is paying to find out.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.