Heart for apps

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More and more people are using apps and mobile technology to keep themselves healthy. The medical world sees potential, but is also cautious. App developer Happitech from Amsterdam wants to bridge the gap between developers and medical specialists.

The company is best known for his game Skip-A-Beat. 'This game you can win by lowering your heart rate,' explains Happitech founder Yosef Safi Harb out. 'We measure heart rate through the camera of your iPhone. 'Players have to put a finger on the camera lens and the camera can detect the movement of blood through the vessels and the heart rate from this format.

The game can be downloaded by anyone, but is also used in a clinical trial in Nij Smellinghe Hospital in Drachten. By playing, players are clear incentives to lower their heart rate. The game will be tested on patients undergoing surgery. By playing Skip-A-Beat, that's the idea, they can soothe themselves with less medication.

But Happitech has a wider purpose. 'Our name is the abbreviation API, and we want to use our API for apps,' says Harb. An API is a piece of programming code that can be used by other developers. As Apple itself offers include APIs for using the camera and motion sensors in the iPhone. In the case of Happitech appmakers can use the pulse technology is also used in Skip-A-Beat.

OLVG Hospital in Amsterdam, in cooperation with the company developed an app for detecting cardiac arrhythmia atrial fibrillation. Harb: 'By using the app, patients can see if they have an attack or not. This may reassure them that, because they can check instantly whether there really is something wrong. 'Checking the pulse occurs in this app also by placing the finger on the camera lens.

Provisional Happitech continues to focus on the heart rate and the potential of the reading thereof. It is the company to look at what is possible with wearables such as the Apple Watch, which can display the heart rate accurately. The role of the company is mainly the development of techniques in their own apps, but also those of third parties, may be used.