Remote electrocardiograph

2002/01/30 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Teknologia
• Medikuntza

Researchers at the British University of Sussex have invented a tool capable of lifting heartbeats without touching the patient. To see heart activity, current electrocardiographs have small cushions that stick to the skin. They collect the electrical signal that produces the heart in each beat and, amplified, it is sent to the printer or to the screen. But contact with the skin makes the signal slightly distorted. In addition, it is impossible to perform electrocardiograms of intangible patients, for example, with severe chest burns.

At the moment, they have developed a sensor capable of receiving electric heartbeat signals at a distance of one meter. Their diameter is one centimeter and, although achievement is important, they hope to improve even more. It is about creating tools for collecting other electrical signals from the body, such as brain activity offline. Thus, among other things, it would be possible to observe the brain activity of the fetus.