Ford researchers say they have developed a heart rate monitoring seat with electrode sensing technology that can check a driver's heart activity.

The seat, a joint project between the Ford European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany, and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen University, fits within Ford's portfolio of possible in-car health and wellness solutions aimed at helping people with chronic illnesses or medical disorders manage their condition while on the go, the automaker said.

"Although currently still a research project, the heart rate monitor technology developed by Ford and RWTH Aachen University could prove to be a hugely important breakthrough for Ford drivers, and not just in terms of the ability to monitor the hearts of those known to be at risk," said Dr. Achim Lindner, Ford European Research and Innovation Centre medical officer.

"As always in medicine, the earlier a condition is detected the easier it is to treat and this technology even has the potential to be instrumental in diagnosing conditions drivers were previously unaware they had."

Data collected by the sensors, for example, could be analyzed by medical experts or on-board computer software. Possibilities therefore abound, notes Lindner, from linking to remote medical services and Ford vehicle safety systems to even providing real-time health information and alerts of imminent cardiovascular issues such as a heart attack.