Going hi-tech for rural hearts with new device

NAGPUR: Maestros, a Mumbai-based medical equipment manufacturing and research company, is in the city to propagate the use of a portable ECG equipment by doctors, especially physicians, cardiologists and paramedical staff in rural areas.
Doctors from rural areas can directly forward ECG recordings from the machine to experts on their mobile phones anywhere in the cities and instantly receive observations and treatment suggestions on their mobile phones.It is also being promoted as a device which can be used for mass screening of patients at camps, in the absence of doctors. Hence, the device is economical as well as time saving.
The telemedicine device - named E-UNO R-10 -- besides transmitting the ECG record on the consultant's phone, also automatically records the ECG and doctors' suggestions on a website permanently. This record cannot be altered by the doctor. The company is projecting this facility in the interest of both the patient and the doctor in case of medico-legal cases.
Company CEO Murali Mohan said that the equipment needs a GPRS-enabled phone and uses a two-directional interface system in smart phones. The ECG recording equipment has 12 'leads' like usual devices and works like a touch screen mobile. By pressing a single button, an attending doctor can send the data to a consultant and receive treatment details and observations. The machine also has a memory card and can store data of at least 20 patients at a given time. A tiny bluetooth enabled printer is also attached for a hard copy.
Dr Vasundhara Atre, vice president of Maestros's telemedicine department, explained how the device could act as a preventive tool for rural patients who are screened during camps. Since the response time is quick, they can directly be transferred to a cardiac set up within 30-60 minutes of a heart attack, a period which, if ignored, can cause permanent damage to the heart.
Another telemedicine vice president Dr Vinayak Deshpande said that the company is working on new features like taking and storing patients' photographs, make it ambulance compatible so that it can record patient's ECG on the way to the hospital and transmit it to the doctor before the patient reaches the hospital.
At present, Orange City Hospital and Research Institute is the only one in the city using the equipment. "It has helped us treat patients on time," said Dr Noorul Amin, casualty senior medical officer.
Key features
* Portable, handy and works on a two-way communication system
* It can transfer ECGs recorded at a distant place (rural) to a city expert instantly on his GPRS enabled mobile phone and seek his advice back on the machine with treatment schedule etc
* The machine is connected automatically to a website which records the data from both sides so that the information is available for reference and can also be used in medico-legal cases