CLAYTON, NC — There are a lot of medical alert systems and devices in the markeplace, but Eric Midgett says eHeart Monitor can prove to be a disruptive technology. Inspired by his own experiences with his father’s health and his wife’s as a caregiver to her mother prior to her death, the technology is intended to help family’s balance the needs of monitoring a loved one’s health with those of work and life.

Midgett describes the the product this way:

“EHeart Monitor is essentially a software application that integrates different types of physiological sensors and consumer products into a highly effective mobile Medical Alert System. The system runs on an Android device whose operation has been greatly simplified and automated (as many of our target audience are not technical).”

In March 2014 he left a VP of Software and Web Development position in Raleigh and founded a software development (and technology integration) company that created the technology for eHeart Monitor. Midgett founded the 3 person company in September, funding it with savings.

It evolved as an idea because of his concerns over his father, who has a heart rhythm condition that would often make his heart rate race up to 200 or more beats a minute. Getting him to a doctor while it was actually occurring proved difficult. “They gave him a device to take home that was clunky and didn’t work very well,” Midgett says. “I wanted something that would monitor him 24 hours a day and I’m a technology problem solver, so I decided, I’ll make it.”

Family problems were key influences

Another key influence was the problems the family had when his wife’s mother was ill with the bladder cancer that would eventually take her life. “We’re a small family and didn’t have many people around to help.” His wife needed a respite from contant care so she could get to the grocery store, get medicines, and talk to the doctors, but also wanted to stay on top of how her mother was doing, if she was in pain, or active and so on.

“It occurred to me that with all this Bluetooth and Web stuff coming out, I could develop something to do heart rate monitoring for my father and give a tool to someone like my wife, who needs to care for someone but also has conflicting family needs. I wanted to build something that lets you look in on them and see how they’re doing but still handle the needs of life.”

Since the device is not FDA approved, Midgett can’t say it detects medical conditions, but what it is good at, he notes, “Is detecting and making rhymic issues visible to your doctor, who can diagnose what the problem is.”

The product he developed offers the following features:

The system runs on an Android device whose operation has been greatly simplified and automated (as many of our target audience are not technical). eHeart Monitor offers exclusive features such as:

  • Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring” including configurable alerts and warnings. Up to 20k-80k measurements daily depending on heart rate sensor
  • Continuous, and point-in-time, blood oximetry monitoring support with configurable alerts and warnings (going live this week).
  • Support for Blood Pressure and Blood Glucose sensors are in Test and Development stages respectively, with anticipated release dates in the next 60-90 days. Additional sensor support is forthcoming.
  • Remote Check-In” to let family check on a loved one by remote to see their current heart rate, Life Rhythm graph, GPS location, and active alerts. Check status using our convenient mobile app any time of day or night.
  • Life Rhythm” graphs give families insight into their loved one’s activity level and daily routine while respecting privacy. With regular observation, the repeating Life Rhythm patterns can provide insight into current activities, changes in routine, or onset of illness or injury.
  • Family First Monitoring” gives families the option of handling alerts and warnings within the family circle in order to assure a compassionate and personalized response to alerts.
  • * Upgradeable as new sensor technology comes out

* Secure & private storage for health related data that remains the property of the user. Data is not shared with big corporate commerce players entering the health space, at least until regulations and oversight matures. All eHeart Monitor data is exportable by the user on demand.

On a business level, Midgett plans to approach home health care and hospices who can buy the service and resell it under their own brands. Eventually, he says, he’ll move on to other things, with the next product he has in mind slated toward memory care patients.

For more information see:

: http://eheartmonitor.com

https://eheartmonitor.technology

Company brochure fo consumers: http://eheartmonitor.technology/eheartConsumerBrochure-June2015.pdf