A seat that can monitor a driver’s heartbeat and help older drivers known to have heart conditions has been developed by a team from Ford’s European Research and Innovation Centre and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University.
The seat uses six embedded sensors to detect electrical impulses generated by the heart.
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“Although currently still a research project, the heart rate monitor technology 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 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.”
RWTH Aachen University professor Steffen Leonhardt, who originally proposed taking the university’s work with contactless infant heart monitoring to Ford, said: “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.”
“The car is an obvious choice; it’s a place where occupants spend long periods sitting in a rather calm position and a place that’s increasingly less physically demanding, making it the ideal environment to measure heart activity.”
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By GlobalDataThe six sensors are postioned on the surface of the seat backrest. The electrodes can 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 lamb’s wool can cause electrical interference that upsets the signal, but we can achieve a strong signal through 10 layers of cotton.”
Early tests show compatibility with more than 90% of people and accurate readings for 98% of the time spent behind the wheel.
