Just last week Bluetooth 4.0 was released to support medical and fitness devices, claiming a lower-power, higher-speed transmission while also supporting older Bluetooth services. Now a new heart rate chest monitor equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 is ready to hit production, and is the first of what is likely to be a slew of similar products.
If you own a smartphone, the device, from Dayton Industrial, can be plugged in and ready to use "in seconds," writes medical technology website Medgagdet, adding that it "paves the way for smartphone-based health and fitness monitoring apps and motivational social media data sharing that incorporate heart rate data."
The new gadget can run for up to 1.5 years and features an ultra-slim (1.1 cm thick) plastic-encased sensor, according to the release dated June 9. No official date has been announced on when the product will be available to retailers, but stay tuned to the company website.
A Bluetooth 4.0-equipped thermometer is also expected to be launched soon. Robert Hughes, senior wireless standards architect of Intel, stated in a release that the new Bluetooth technology is "the model for many more health-related profiles coming soon to support devices like blood pressure monitors, weight scales, and blood glucose meters."
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) reports that there are more than 40 million Bluetooth-enabled health and medical devices on the market.
Other new technologies in heart rate monitors include MyTrek by Scosche Industries, a heart rate monitoring system that attaches to a forearm and syncs with your iPhone or iPod touch. Also, Swiss company CSEM is developing an iPhone app heart monitor dubbed Pulsear. The app measures heart rate in real time, and lets you see your heart rate over time onscreen and compare, for example, today's jog with last week's. While the current prototype measures only heart rate, future versions could be adapted to measure additional vital signs such as blood oxygen levels, researchers say.
Access the press release on the new heart rate monitor.
Learn more about Bluetooth 4.0 for medical devices: http://medgadget.com/2011/06/bluetooth-4-0-adds-special-support-for-medical-devices.html
