imPulse ECG monitor wins ‘Healthcare Technology of the Year’

Plessey’s imPulse handheld device utilises Plessey’s patented and award winning EPIC sensing technology. Plessey’s EPIC disruptive technology is used in the medical, automotive and industrial market segment applications.

This sensor technology has been creating considerable interest within the medical community where the primary focus has been in using EPIC for surface body electrode physiology applications such as electrocardiography (ECG), electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), and electrooculography (EOG). 

Plessey has developed the imPulse as a simple and easy to use handheld ECG monitoring device. The imPulse detects an ECG signal by the simple placement of the thumbs on the sensors embedded in the unit.

This enables a routine, quick, accurate recording of a lead one ECG signal without the need for conductive gel or skin preparation. The signal is transmitted using Bluetooth to a smartphone or tablet. Besides displaying the ECG trace along with heart rate readout, the data from the sensors provide can indicate whether the user is at risk of arterial fibrillation – a precursor to a stroke.

Keith Strickland, Plessey’s Chief Technology Officer, said: “Winning the National Technology Awards in the Healthcare category reflects the skill, dedication and determination of our team to successfully deploy technologies that can dramatically improve people’s lives.

Today, Plessey’s imPulse capacitive ECG sensing system is helping to identify Atrial Fibrillation (AF) in both primary and secondary healthcare in the UK to significantly reduce the risk of stroke. We should be seeing the imPulse unit in use in the NHS in the near term and we look forward to continuing to develop many more innovative solutions in the healthcare sector.”