Students of the University of Karachi have used their creative skills to develop a low cost smart device that warns before a heart attack.
This device, named CardioVit, gives an alert only when the heartbeat is abnormal, oxygen level drops to a dangerous limit, heart rate becomes too fast or too slow, sudden change occurs in body temperature and symptoms like cold sweats appear simultaneously. When all these symptoms reach a dangerous level at the same time, the device immediately sounds a buzzer and alarm to warn the patient to go to the hospital for a complete medical checkup.
Abdul Hannan Zafar, a student of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Karachi and team leader of the project, said that the device does not respond to just one symptom but only gives an alert when all dangerous symptoms appear together. The device uses a microcontroller that analyzes data received from different sensors through a specific algorithm to avoid unnecessary or false alarms. It includes a lithium ion battery, graphic system, MAX30102 sensor for heart rate and oxygen level, AD8232 for ECG, LM35 for body temperature and a special sensor for sweat detection, while all information can be viewed on an OLED screen.
Student Mariha Saleem said that this is the first device of its kind in Pakistan. Smart watches only monitor heart rate or oxygen level separately and do not indicate a possible heart attack, whereas CardioVit analyzes multiple symptoms together and issues an alert on that basis.
Team member Hania Jamal said that several people in her family and surroundings suffered heart attacks and many times patients reached the hospital late. Doctors often say, you came too late, mainly because people lack awareness about heart attack symptoms. A common person does not understand why heart rate increases, why cold sweats occur, why oxygen level drops or why heartbeat becomes irregular. This delay causes irreversible damage to the heart, because once the heart is damaged it cannot be fully restored. Keeping this problem in mind, the CardioVit device was developed, which does not diagnose a heart attack but warns the patient in case of a possible heart attack.
Team member Abdullah Faheem said that in the future artificial intelligence will be added to this device to further improve it. The device was developed in one and a half months at a cost of only 8 to 10 thousand rupees. It has been designed especially for low resource areas as an alternative to expensive hospital monitors. In the next phase, further research, surveys and clinical trials will be conducted.
Benish Asghar said that the purpose of this device is not to make a final diagnosis of any disease but to warn the patient in time so that they can consult a doctor and take medication to prevent a life threatening heart attack.
Hajra Faheem said that if government support is provided, it can be produced on a large scale at low cost so that more patients can benefit from it.
Team member Hamna Rehan said that this project was prepared under the annual academic projects organized by the Karachi University Pharmacy Science Club, where students work every year on a unique and new idea. They chose this device considering current health issues and also received a prize for it.
The smart device has been named CardioVit, which identifies early but dangerous symptoms before a heart attack and not only gives a timely warning to the patient but also monitors multiple biomedical signals including heart rate, oxygen level, body temperature, sweat and ECG at the same time.
