As opposed to previous health monitoring appliances, which have alarm buttons, MAP Health Watch is able to do something other devices are not: there is no need to push buttons because the pioneering medical watch continuously monitors its user’s medical data and gives a warning automatically if it senses danger. In this case, a member of the emergency medical team on duty 24/7 goes through the data available for check up on the central server, and if he/she evaluates the situation as a real threat, he/she starts the alarm process. At this point, close relatives or friends specified in advance are notified on the one hand, and on the other hand, the ambulance is alarmed.
Based on research started in 2013, the international team of cardiologists, mathematicians, and engineers developing MAP established that 5 parameters – blood pressure, ECG, fluctuations in heart rate, skin temperature, and galvanic skin response – are able to signal in advance the most frequent lethal illnesses.
The medical watch has a sensor for each of these parameters, the data captured are analyzed by medical algorithms of unparalleled accuracy as well as doctors. MAP Health Watch can predict the occurrence of a heart attack, a leading cause of death worldwide, with a high probability. With the help of the device in its present state of development, the different types of the irregular heartbeat can also be detected. The watch may reveal infections accompanied by a high fever at an early stage, and also forewarns of the increased risk of Ischemic stroke. It measures dehydration and disorders of electrolyte metabolism. Furthermore, the device instantly indicates falling and traffic accidents. The watch won the certificate of Arrow Electronics, one of the world’s largest electronic component distributors, which is awarded to products available on Indiegogo considered feasible for production.
Developers promise that in the future MAP will be able to predict epileptic seizures, detect allergic and asthma seizures and identify sleep disorders. The sensors for them are already inside the device, these functions only need software development, so the first models will also be capable later.
Planned to be water- and shock-resistant and also equipped with a vibration motor, the watch will safely sustain for at least 24 hours with a single charge. Its name, MAP, is the abbreviation of the initial letters of the expressions measure, analyze, predict. It describes the operating principle of the watch at the same time:
- The watch measures the electric potential generated by the contraction of the heart muscle (ECG), heart rate, movement, temperature of the skin surface and the electrodermal activity, and indicates blood pressure based on the algorithm;
- The device – or rather the central server to which it is connected – analyses the data, that is, it pays attention to changes of heartbeat for instance, or it also detects when its user is on the move and after a sudden fall there is relative immobility;
- Based on data analysis, it can predict certain serious health hazards at the beginning of the process.
In addition to the Hungarian market, the watch created by an international team of developers is aiming to captivate the US market, too. The development team consists of doctors and engineers, among them a fair number of experts working at two Hungarian Universities, Szeged University and Semmelweis University.
Pre-ordering of MAP health monitoring watches has already started on Indiegogo. The lowest price at which you could get hold of the watch was USD195, but since the batch at this price was sold out, the most favorable price at the moment is USD245. In addition, there is an extra USD10 transport cost within the US, to other countries it costs USD20. The price includes not only the watch but 6 months’ fee for the medical supervision service as well.
If you order multiple copies, you get a better deal: the family pack consisting of 4 watches and a 3 months subscription for each, costs USD1080, and since transport costs are either USD10 or USD20 in this case, too, the four devices cost a maximum of USD1100. When the time period provided in the starter pack is over, the medical-emergency service will be available in USD30 and USD50 packages monthly.
The iOS and Android supported watch is available in various colors and at the moment with a plate diameter of 41mm in size. Apart from the design, comfort played a similarly important role during the development, since the aim of the developers’ team is that its users keep wearing it overnight, too. Developers promise to ship MAP this December.
