HEARTBIT - Smart ECG monitor

2019

Challenge

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year. CVDs are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease and other conditions. More than four out of five CVD deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes, and one third of these deaths occur prematurely in people under 70 years of age. Luckily a lot more people are benefiting from an active life with intensive exercise, but that also means that even more people could be affected by heart problems.

For a long and healthy life, it's vital to get – and stay – fit, but the thin line between working out safely and stressing out your heart isn't always clear. HeartBit/Medirlab Ltd., a Hungarian start-up, saw an opportunity to capitalize on the thriving wearable technology market while providing unprecedented insight into heart health. 

Solution

Most existing activity trackers only record users' pulse rate. HeartBit aimed to take real-time heart monitoring to the next level through a wearable electrocardiogram (ECG) device. By measuring electrical signals produced by your heart each time it beats, an ECG can detect signs of arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation and other potential anomalies. Through HeartBit, the company wanted to alert wearers to warning signs immediately and, over the long-term, build ECG profiles of users to help them optimize their approach to exercise.

With the X-Plast design team during the short 6 months available for a complex product development, we have achieved the expected high product quality thanks to the X-Plast's integrated product development process. During the design process with the designer and engineer team of X-Plast, the geometry of the parts and manufacturability studies were carried out in parallel, together with the special skill of the company the Moldflow injection molding simulation.

During the design phase, in-house 3D printing technologies (Polyjet, SLS, SLA, FDM) assisted the testing of the components. The high-tech 3D printing labor of X-Plast helped the product develpment process. In the Heartbit project: product designers, simulation engineers and injection mold tool designers worked together and shared knowledge for months to ensure the best technical solutions for all parts. Cooperation between our experts made it possible deliver a premium product to our customer in a short lead time.