A new phone just launched in Singapore has the ability to take your pulse when you press your fingers on a receptor, sending the results to a 24-hour medical call center. The new EPI Life mobile phone even comes with a mini electrocardiogram.
“We think it’s a revolution. It has clinical significance,” EPI medical chief, Dr. Chow U-Jin, said at the biggest mobile industry conference, Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona.
“Anywhere in the world you can use it as a phone, but you are also able to transfer an ECG and get a reply. If you get a normal reply it will just be an SMS. If it’s severe, you get a call: ‘Sir, an ambulance is on the way.” U-Jin added.
EPI Life has three hospitals accessible through the phone, located in Singapore, all of which carry the phone users’ history.
EPI Life costs $700, which is the average price of a top range smartphone. A mini version is also available for a purchase price of $99 with a smaller receptor that links via Bluetooth connection to your smartphone, which is expected to launch shortly in Spain and France.
Approximately 2,000 of these smartphones have been on the market since 2010.
“The most obvious targets are people with heart disease,” Chow said.
You don’t actually to have any known medical conditions to purchase this smartphone and customers can choose from three packages that offer a different amount of tests a month–ranging from 10, to 30 or a max of 100 tests.
The EPI Life is just one among a multitude of mobile health initiatives that are displaying in Barcelona. Many of the services require SMS or MMS messages that even the most technologically outdated phones can access.
Health Company, which works in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, sends medical information about sexuality, obesity, children’s health, etc., to about 430,000 customers in Arab and English.
“You could also send a consultation through SMS,” said company vice president Fahad S. Al-Orifi.”This SMS will go to our website where our doctor answers you to your mobile,” Al-Orifi added.
Jamie Epstein is a TMCnet Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter’s assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC (News – Alert) as a Web editor for TMCnet. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Jamie Epstein
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