New Mobile Heart Rate Monitoring App Detects Pulse via Smartphone's Camera

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Azumio, a leading developer of consumer health and biofeedback applications, with more than 30 million downloads to date, today announced the launch of Cardio Buddy in the AppStore – a touchless, camera-based app that measures a user's heart rate in real-time based on changes in facial coloration; instantly providing pulse results and visualizations. Cardio Buddy joins Azumio as part of the world's largest portfolio of mobile health applications that includes the award-winning Instant Heart Rate app.

Ground-Breaking Mobile Technology to Improve Health

• Cardio Buddy is designed to help users measure and track their overall heart health by offering a history of readings and analysis that provides a complete picture of cardiovascular health.
• Cardio Buddy utilizes advanced, real-time, hands-free, bio-signal analysis from video stream that enables the use of the iPhone's camera to detect heartbeat and calculate pulse rate. When the heart beats, while not visible to the human eye, more blood is pumped into a person's face, causing a change in color of light that is reflected from the facial region.
• Cardio Buddy follows Azumio's acquisition of mobile health developer SkyHealth, and collection of new mobile health tracking applications.  

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"The mobile health industry has grown out of its infancy, but will only thrive if consumers have access to simple, intuitive technologies that enable them to quickly and easily monitor and improve their health directly from their phones," said Peter Kuhar, Azumio Chief Technology Officer. "At Azumio, developing technologies that speed adoption of mobile health applications is crucial to the next generation of consumers, and we're proud to see more than 30 million users currently using our applications."

Features

• Cardio Buddy directs mobile users where to center the front- or rear-facing camera with the face positioned in the on-screen circle – users then hold the position for a matter of seconds and the app provides a heart rate reading
• A personal dashboard enables users to store and identify heart rate patterns by day, week or month
• Simple heart rate and pulse monitor allow users to quickly check and track their heart rate any time, for instance, during rest, after workout or during work
• Vibrant graphics and animations highlight user data and heart rate history

By The Numbers: Reducing Serious Health Disease
Cardio Buddy provides an easy-to-use solution to a massive global problem. According to the American Journal of Hypertension, adults with resting heart rates above 80 beats per minute are more likely to become obese and develop diabetes after two decades, while a higher-than-normal resting pulse may also indicate a higher risk of stroke and heart disease.

Accordingly, the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health states that for each rising increment of 10 heart beats per minute, the risk of dying of a heart attack increased 18 percent among women and 10 percent in men.

To download Cardio Buddy for iOS, visit www.Azumio.com or the AppStore.

About Azumio
Azumio is a leading developer of consumer health applications with more than 30 million downloads to date. Azumio is dedicated to improving people's health and wellness by motivating and influencing behavior through the development and use of innovative biofeedback technologies. Visit Azumio.com or follow http://twitter.com/azumioinc.

SOURCE Azumio