AT&T will provide real-time wireless connectivity for eCardio Diagnostics' arrhythmia-monitoring devices.
AT&T has announced plans to carry eCardio Diagnostics' cardiac
arrhythmia-monitoring mobile devices on its wireless network to allow
physicians to monitor patients' heartbeats in real time.
The eCardio M2M (machine-to-machine) monitor allows heart
patients to recuperate at home from arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeats, rather
than endure a long stay in the hospital.
An arrhythmia, or heart rhythm disorder, occurs when the
heart's electrical impulses malfunction and cause the beat to become
irregular.
Although eCardio's monitoring is already installed in
10,000 cardiac units, AT&T's wireless network will allow monitoring to
happen in real time and improve the time it takes to diagnose a condition,
eCardio reports.
"AT&T delivered the expertise and services we
needed to create an end-to-end mobility solution that improves the patient
experience and physician productivity," said Andrew Arroyo, eCardio's vice
president of information technology, in a statement.
With access to AT&T's network, doctors will be able
to receive alerts on heart arrhythmias as the episodes happen. They can access
the patient's data from any computer connected to the Internet.
AT&T says the product will allow hospitals,
pharmacies, drug retailers and health insurers to reduce the costs for treating
arrhythmia.
The eCardio product line includes mobile heart-monitoring
devices such as the eCardio eVolution handset.
According to Jenny Bridges, an AT&T spokeswoman,
providing wireless connectivity for heart monitors creates a new category of
devices for consumers and businesses. "AT&T is driving the emergence
of new categories of devices and applications that are enhanced by wireless
network connectivity," Bridges wrote in an e-mail to eWEEK.
The partnership is one of a number of AT&T's
initiatives in health care. AT&T provides the wireless connectivity for
Vitality's electronic pill bottle cap, called the GlowCap.
Verizon Wireless also delivers wireless service to heart
monitors, connecting LifeWatch's LifeStar PMP Wireless Tele-Diagnostic System.
The LifeStar unit can screen for congestive heart failure, diabetes and COPD
(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). It features a touch screen, Bluetooth
connectivity and plug-and-play functionality.
Brian T. Horowitz is a freelance technology and health writer as well as a copy editor. Brian has worked on the tech beat since 1996 and covered health care IT and rugged mobile computing for eWEEK since 2010. He has contributed to more than 20 publications, including Computer Shopper, Fast Company, FOXNews.com, More, NYSE Magazine, Parents, ScientificAmerican.com, USA Weekend and Womansday.com, as well as other consumer and trade publications. Brian holds a B.A. from Hofstra University in New York.
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