Following up on its efforts to develop in-car monitoring systems for diabetics and asthmatics, Ford engineers have developed a car seat that can monitor a driver’s heartbeat.

The seat uses a six-sensor system positioned on the surface of the seat backrest to detect electrical impulses generated by the heart and is the result of a joint project undertaken by experts from Ford’s European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany, and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University.  The unobtrusive electrodes are designed to detect the electronic signature of the heart through clothing (through as many as 10 layers of cotton). In stationary testing, 90 to 95% 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% of the time spent behind the wheel, even at this early stage of development.

 “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,” says Dr. Achim Lindner, Ford European Research and Innovation 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 previously unaware they had.”

Data collected by the sensors, for example, could be analyzed by medical experts or onboard computer software. Possibilities range from linking to remote medical services and Ford vehicle safety systems to providing real-time health information and alerts of imminent cardiovascular issues such as a heart attack.

“The ability to monitor hearts at the wheel could offer massive benefits in terms of health and road safety, both for the user and the wider public,” says RWTH Aachen University Professor Steffen Leonhardt, who originally proposed taking to Ford the university’s work with contactless infant heart monitoring. “The car is an obvious choice; it’s 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.”