This incredible business card has a built-in heart rate monitor and ECG display

By Chloe Olewitz March 2, 2016

What would you think if your new doctor handed you a business card with a built-in ECG? That might sound a bit outlandish at first, but believe it or not, a company by the name of MobilECG has created an electrocardiograph business card as a toy to promote their actual clinical ECG product, and the idea is still spreading like wildfire. As long as you’re touching both of the business card’s scanner pads, the screen will show a basic but accurate ECG readout.

If you’re unfamiliar with the tech, an electrocardiograph is used to detect and diagnose heart abnormalities by measuring and recording electrical currents passing through the body. Frustrated with the high prices of clinical ECG machines, a team of Hungarian engineers founded MobilECG in 2013 to create a more accessible solution. They are now working on the second generation launch of their wireless, fully functional ECG machine that aims to be more both accessible and affordable. Since the company had some difficulty getting funding for its first generation ECG product, all of MobilECG’s creations are fully open source. That includes the ECG business card, which you could theoretically make yourself.

MobilECG is quick to point out that its ECG business card should not be used as a diagnostic tool or an official electrocardiograph reader. All the same, the card does capture a real ECG reading from the user’s fingers on five different wavelengths. According to the medical data MobilECG provides to explain the electrical current readings, the ECG readout that the business card produces is accurate, even if it’s not totally complete.

To get your hands on a MobilECG Business Card from the manufacturer, you’ll have to sign up for the waiting list that the company has started to gauge consumer interest. They plan to sell the card for “$29 or less, if there is a lot of interest” which still seems like a lot of money for a novelty medical toy crossed with a publicity stunt. However, since the MobilECG Business Card schematics and code are available as open source files, you might get more bang for your buck by building an ECG Business Card of your own.

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Chloe is a writer from New York with a passion for technology, travel, and playing devil's advocate. You can find out more…

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