Engineers in Northern Ireland have developed a ‘no-wires’ way for doctors to monitor their patients hearts and other vital signs.

The device developed by engineers from Ulster University’s Sensor Technology + Devices (ST+D) division, consists of a disposable adhesive electrode patch worn on the patient’s chest.

When the patient is hospitalised, information gathered by the device such as ECG, body temperature, respiration rate and the percentage of oxygen saturation in the blood, is transmitted to a doctor via the hospital’s wireless communications system from distances of up to 10m. Once discharged, the patient is given a small, portable handset which uses GPRS to pick up signals from the patch and transmit the data back to a doctor’s PC using a wireless internet connection.

Michael Caulfield, chief executive, ST+D, explained: “It won’t matter whether the patient is in hospital, at home recuperating – or holidaying in say, Spain or South Africa, doctor’s will be able to click onto the website and review the state of their patient’s health.”

The device is currently on trial at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, as part of a £410,000 project funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Ted Bianco, the Wellcome Trust, explained: “This device has the potential to change the way doctors monitor their patient’s hearts. Testing in a hospital environment is the first step to validating the technology and gaining useful insights into how it might best be deployed, both in the clinical setting and beyond.”

Explaining the benefits of the device, Caulfield said: “It will free up hospital beds because of earlier release of heart patients, and cut down on in-patients’ appointments, while at the same time giving early warning of any problems.

“While it’s not designed to provide emergency alerts this technology will certainly warn the clinician of one that may possibly be impending – and of which the patient is unaware. This technology solution will be of significant interest to healthcare organisations on a global basis.”