ABSTRACT

Heart disease has become the top three deaths for over 20 years, with the mortality of
approximately 85,000 cases per year or 236 cases per day. Most are the elderly.
Therefore, the objective of this study is to produce an equipment to assist this group of
patients. The equipment comprises 3 major components including an electrical signal
data receiver from heart with a chest string containing ECG pole. The data will be sent
further to a microcontroller for being processed in order to calculate the rate of
heartbeat. In case that an abnormal heartbeat is detected, the system will send a
warning signal to the patient's physician or relative with a short message service (SMS)
via a mobile phone network. With the use of GSM Module from an experiment to find
the rate of heartbeat between the device proposed and OMRON SEM-1, a machine for
measuring the rate of heartbeat used at a hospital, the experiment has indicated that
the average rate of heartbeat measured by the machine proposed has fluctuated for

less than 2% compared with that of OMRON SEM-1. Moreover, the system can detect
the abnormal rate of heartbeat with 100% accuracy. In addition, the warning signal can
be sent to the physician or the relative just in time.
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Ford Develops Heart Rate Monitoring Seat; Adds New Element to Company's in-car
Health and Wellness Research Portfolio

The Ford heart rate monitoring seat could allow medical experts such as Ford's Dr. Achim Lindner to monitor drivers' hearts remotely.
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Ford researchers have developed a heart rate monitoring seat with electrode sensing technology that
can check a drivers heart activity

The seat, a joint project between the Ford European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen,
Germany and Rheinisch-Westflische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, fits within Fords
portfolio of possible in-car health and wellness solutions aimed at helping people with chronic illnesses or
medical disorders manage their condition while on the go

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AACHEN, Germany, May 24, 2011 Ford engineers have developed a car seat that can monitor a drivers
heartbeat, opening the door to a wealth of health, convenience and even life-saving potential.
A joint project undertaken by experts from Fords European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany
and Rheinisch-Westflische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, the seat uses six special embedded
sensors to detect electrical impulses generated by the heart.
Although currently still a research project, the heart rate monitor technology developed by Ford and RWTH Aachen
University could prove to be a hugely important breakthrough for Ford drivers, and not just in terms of the ability to
monitor the hearts of those known to be at risk, said Dr. Achim Lindner, Ford European Research and Innovation
Centre medical officer.
As always in medicine, the earlier a condition is detected the easier it is to treat and this technology even has the
potential to be instrumental in diagnosing conditions drivers were previously unaware they had.

Data collected by the sensors, for example, could be analyzed by medical experts or onboard computer software.
Possibilities therefore abound, notes Lindner, from linking to remote medical services and Ford vehicle safety systems
to even providing real-time health information and alerts of imminent cardiovascular issues such as a heart attack.
At the heart of the research
The heart rate monitor seat is the latest addition in the Ford research portfolio of possible in-car health and wellness
solutions aimed at helping people with chronic illnesses or medical disorders manage their condition while on the go.
This month, Ford also announced research into how it is leveraging Ford SYNC and its ability to connect devices via
Bluetooth, access cloud-based Internet services and control smartphone apps to develop industry-first voicecontrolled 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.
The seat sensor technology under development could initially be of most benefit to drivers known to have heart
conditions primarily those in more mature age groups, a globally growing population.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans 65 and older is projected to more than double by
2050, reaching some 88.5 million. Predictions in Europe suggest a growing trend as well, with the over-65 population
reaching nearly 23 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2050.
With increasing life expectancy meaning higher numbers of people and therefore drivers at risk of heart diseases, the
ability to monitor hearts at the wheel could offer massive benefits in terms of health and road safety, both for the user
and the wider public, said RWTH Aachen University Professor Steffen Leonhardt, who originally proposed taking the
universitys work with contactless infant heart monitoring to Ford. The car is an obvious choice; its a place where
occupants spend long periods sitting in a rather calm position and a place thats increasingly less physically
demanding, making it the ideal environment to measure heart activity.
Initial testing
Working with RWTH Aachen University, Ford developed the six-sensor system positioned on the surface of the seat
backrest. The unobtrusive electrodes have been specially designed to be able to detect the electronic signature of the
heart through clothing.
The sensors use a very specially designed system and carefully researched materials to be able to give a good
signal without contact on the skin, Lindner said.
We are still fine-tuning their operation to work with some materials; certain types of synthetic fabric and lambs wool
can cause electrical interference that upsets the signal, but we can achieve a strong signal through 10 layers of
cotton.
In stationary testing, 90 to 95 percent of subjects proved to be compatible and on-road testing of the Ford heart rate
monitoring seat proved it was possible to achieve highly accurate readings for up to 98 percent of the time spent
behind the wheel, even at this early stage of development.
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Follow the link for a video demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEQ9smLOG4Q

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes
automobiles across six continents. With about 166,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the companys
automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit
Company. For more information regarding Fords products, please visit www.ford.com.
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