Research in Motion (RIM), makers of BlackBerry phones, Maestros Mediline Systems, a Mumbai-based publicly-listed firm that designs and manufactures diagnostic and patient monitoring devices, and mobile service provider Vodafone have come together to launch a unique mobile electrocardiogram (ECG) application called eUNO-R10 for BlackBerry smartphones in India.

The equipment is a portable monitor with wearable wrist electrodes that records the user’s ECG before sending the data out to doctors instantly using communication networks like telephone, internet and GSM mobile networks.

According to Krishnakumar Menon, managing director, Maestros Mediline, the eUNO-R10 device will send relevant information to the medical records server, which then pushes the ECG report to a doctor’s BlackBerry smartphone over the mobile network.

“It will be available to cardiologists in India who want to be empowered with instant remote access to patients’ ECG and heart performance reports on their BlackBerry smartphones, allowing them to respond quickly with a diagnosis and prescribe appropriate medication,” said Menon. The solution will help to bridge the “gap and distance between doctors and patients” in the event of cardiac attacks, he added.

Doctors can use the eUNO-R10 application on their BlackBerry smartphones to retrieve patient information anywhere, any time. Maestros Mediline is working with a network of hospitals, cardiologists and paramedics for popularising the device. Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai is the first hospital to adopt the application and its cardiologists will now have access to patients’ ECG reports on their Blackberry smartphones.

As the device costs between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000, it is largely meant for hospitals and paramedics. Individual patients, who have a history of heart attacks and have undergone balloon angioplasty, bypass surgery or heart operation can rent the device at a more affordable rate from the hospital.

Heart disease being the single largest cause of death in India — heart attacks are responsible for one-third of all deaths — Pavan Kumar, a cardiologist and head of telemedicine department at Nanavati Hospital, and a key person behind developing the solution with Maestros, thinks it is often difficult for patients to differentiate between the symptoms of angina (chest pain) and heart attack. “The use of eUNO-R10 mobile ECG can enable early detection of a heart attack and ensure right treatment.”

Launching the application in Mumbai, Frenny Bawa, RIM’s MD for India, said, “BlackBerry is more than just a handset, it is a platform. What makes it more rich and powerful is that it is a platform that is built to accommodate various solutions.” Menon is hopeful that the technology and the device could go through further refinement and does not rule out the possibility of the solution being made available to other service providers and smartphone models in India