Blog Posts by Alice Miles

We have all come to expect that our vehicles will safely deliver us to our chosen destinations and to protect us in the event of an accident. However, the Ford Motor Company is taking steps to allow us to use our vehicles for overall health monitoring.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators reports Ford has announced that its research team in Aachen, Germany, has developed a car seat with six sensors that can monitor a driver's heart by its electrical impulses. Such a seat, if brought to market, could help heart patients monitor their health and provide an early warning of a heart attack. It's the latest twist among several Ford health and wellness initiatives that could enable cars to be an extension of medical self-monitoring for people dealing with chronic conditions, whether it's a weak heart, allergies, diabetes or other maladies. While there are portable heart-rate monitors, such as those that runners, bicyclists and other athletes wear, the beauty of Ford's system is that there's nothing to hook up.

The heart-monitoring car seat comes a week after Ford said it is working on in-car systems that would let motorists keep track of other health issues, such as glucose levels for diabetics or pollen levels for asthmatics, from displays on the car's dashboard. As for the heart monitor, there are plenty of details to be worked out. The system is still being refined to handle different-size motorists and issues such as certain types of clothing. Read the full story in USA Today.