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ECG
Driver heart monitoring
Heart disease is one of Europe’s biggest health problems and, as populations continue to grow older, affects an increasing number of drivers. To help prevent heart disease causing accidents on the road, Ford is developing a new system that can monitor drivers’ heart health at the wheel.
Most drivers encounter scenarios on the road that make their hearts beat faster from
time-to-time, from heavy congestion to tailgaters.
Such circumstances usually cause little more than a temporary quickening of the pulse,
but for an increasing number of drivers the risk of more severe heart problems is very real, both outside the car and at the wheel.
Figures show that the mature age groups at greater risk of heart disease are steadily growing. Aware of this trend and keen to ensure that future Ford drivers are protected from the dangers posed by suffering heart problems while driving, Ford engineers have developed a car seat that can monitor a driver’s heartbeat.
The joint project undertaken by experts from Ford’s European Research Centre in Aachen, Germany and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University has resulted in a seat that uses special sensors to monitor the driver’s heart activity - opening the door to a wealth of health, convenience and even life-saving potential.
The sensors detect the electrical impulses generated by the heart, turning them into signals which can be analysed by medical experts or computer software. This creates the potential to link to remote medical services and Ford safety systems, monitor the real time health of drivers and even warn them of imminent cardiovascular issues, for example a heart attack.
“Although currently still a research project the heart rate monitor technology developed by Ford and RWTH Aachen University 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 Dr Achim Lindner, Ford Research 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 not aware they suffered.”
Safety potential
Although not exclusive to older drivers, the risk of heart problems rises with age, and increasingly ageing populations create a higher proportion of drivers at risk of suffering a heart complaint at the wheel.
The percentage of Europe’s population aged 65-years or older more than doubled between 1950 and 2000, from 9.1 per cent to 20.6 per cent. Predictions suggest the over 65 population will reach 22.7 per cent by 2025 and 30.3 per cent by 2050. Research has shown that drivers with heart disease are 23 per cent more likely to be involved in accidents.
The advantages potentially offered by the Ford heart rate monitoring seat in informing this increasing number of vulnerable drivers of changes in their heart’s behaviour while they’re still able to respond have not been lost on Ford’s engineers.
“The system will be able to inform if someone is having a cardiovascular issue, for example a heart attack, and could also be used to detect the symptoms of other conditions,” Lindner said. “This doesn’t only benefit the driver; the roads could be made safer for all users.”
RWTH Aachen University Professor Steffen Leonhardt originally proposed the idea of integrating contactless ECG technology with a Ford vehicle.
“The car is 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,” Leonhardt 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 would offer massive benefits in terms of health and road safety, both for the user and the wider public.”
Testing proves positive
Working with RWTH Aachen University, Ford has developed a system of six sensors positioned on the surface of the seat backrest. The unobtrusive electrodes have been specially designed to be able to detect the electronic signature of the heart through clothing.
“The sensors use a very special 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 ten layers of cotton wool.”
In stationary testing, 90 to 95 per cent of subjects proved to be compatible and on-road testing of the Ford heart rate monitoring seat proved it was possible to achieve highly accurate readings for up to 98 per cent of the time spent behind the wheel, even at an early stage in development.
Connectivity potential
Lindner feels the Ford heart rate monitoring seat could provide reassurance for drivers with heart conditions by transmitting the telemetry to experts, who could remotely monitor their condition.
Equally enticing for Ford’s engineers is the prospect of linking the Ford heart rate monitoring seat to existing and future technologies including the SYNC with MyFord Touch system due to arrive in Europe in 2012. SYNC’s connectivity potential could allow the transmission of telemetry through connected mobile phones, potentially even combining with the advanced Emergency Assistance function to provide ECG telemetry from before, during or after an accident to emergency services.
It’s possible that Ford’s heart rate monitoring seat might also link to technologies such as Lane Departure Warning with Lane Keeping Aid, Active City Stop, Driver Alert and Speed Limiter to mitigate the consequences of a driver losing control because of a heart episode.
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