A cell phone developer in Singapore is taking a leap in medical technology with a cell phone that can check your pulse and send an ambulance if needed, Agence France Presse reported.
The new EPI Life mobile phone comes with a mini electrocardiogram device.
The phone can take a users pulse by pressing fingers on a built-in receptor, then sends the results to a medical call center that is working around the clock.
"We think it's a revolution. It has clinical significance," EPI medical chief Dr. Chow U-Jin said at the mobile industry's annual conference 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 the report sent by the phone is severe, the call center will contact the user to tell them an ambulance is on the way.
EPI Life costs $700, and more than 2,000 of them are already on the market.
"The most obvious targets are people with heart disease," Chow said.
A mini $99 version of the device that comes as a Bluetooth connection is due to launch soon in France and Spain.
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