feature Kilimanjaro and even hiking up to Everest base camp. There is no way of discerning in advance who is likely to su er from altitude sickness, it is a condition independent of a person’s age or even fi tness level. As well as being unpleasant, it is dangerous, and if ignored, quickly becomes life-threatening. Although its symptoms are well documented, the anti-altitude sickness prevention drugs now available can produce some side-e ects that confusingly are the same as those of altitude sickness. Being able to accurately measure blood oxygen levels with no additional equipment could literally be a life-saver in these circumstances. For fi tness and sports training, monitoring heart rate with the e-Checkup app is very useful and users will fi nd it especially convenient to keep track of how much fi tter they become over time, marked by a decrease in resting heart rate. Respiration rate is the The user simply places the tip of an index fi nger onto fi fth vital sign currently able to be measured to medi- the recess containing the V-Sensor built into the back cal accuracy by e-Checkup, using the same optical case of the smartphone and maintains the correct signals from the pulse oximeter to detect the change pressure for approximately 60 seconds. Source: Le- in pulse rate and blood pressure as the user breathes man Micro Devices in and out. thermopile in the V-Sensor which can measure non- Measures health, not activity contact body temperature. While adults generally know if they have a temperature and can use the Why is it important to measure health, not activity, smartphone to get an exact reading, it is not always which is what wearable fi tness trackers do? Looking at so clear if a child is ill and the ability to take a child’s just one capability of a smartphone with e-Checkup, temperature, especially when out and about, by blood pressure measurement, makes the answer simply pointing the phone at the child’s forehead and obvious. High blood pressure or hypertension is one activating the temperature part of the e-Checkup of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular disease, app, is very useful for any parent. Blood oxygen level which leads to the top two causes of death in both (SpO2) can also be measured with e-Checkup using high and low income countries. High blood pressure pulse oximetry. Pulse oximeters, such as the clip is responsible for 16 % of all deaths, which equates to devices used by doctors in surgeries and hospitals, one death every three seconds. Around 40 % of the use sensors to monitor a person’sblood oxygen global adult population has this condition and most saturation non-invasively by-passing wavelengths of these individuals are unaware of it. Hypertension is of light through a thin part of the body, such as a a relatively easy condition to treat and manage. The fi ngertip, to a photodetector. The photodetector can advent of easy-to-use devices which enable self-mea- detect the amount of light absorbed by the blood, surement of the vital signs (blood pressure, blood which indicates the blood oxygen saturation. Lack of oxygen, heart rate and others) will enable individuals oxygen, hypoxemia, or a drop in blood oxygen levels, to self-screen, detecting problems before symptoms can have many causes, including su ocation, choking, appear and the condition becomes acute, or worse, infections such as pneumonia, conditions includ- causes a heart attack or stroke. ing anaemia, congenital heart defects, lung disease, and medical emergencies e.g. pulmonary embolism (blood clot in an artery in the lung), collapsed lung, Consumer convenience severe asthma attacks. It is also very useful to be able to measure blood oxygen in infants and small As far as consumers are concerned, the key criterion, children. whether for monitoring their own health or that of For adventure travelers and climbers, low blood their loved ones, is convenience and ease of use. This oxygen levels can anticipate altitude sickness and is where LMD’s e-Checkup system provides a unique indicate the immediate need to descend to lower solution – it is fully integrated into a smartphone and levels. With the rise of worldwide adventure travel, needs no external devices to measure the fi ve vital there are many places (La Paz, Lhasa, Cusco, Quito) signs: blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, above the 2,500 meters level being visited by increas- blood oxygen level and non-contact body tempera- ing numbers of people, plus more parties climbing ture, all with medical accuracy. With any e-Checkup™ 27