Mobile Health 2011 is the leading global event and meeting place for the mHealth industry, bringing together key pioneers of the evolution of mHealth services across the world.

Make the most of this unique opportunity to learn from and interact with the leading mHealth experts from across the globe. 

 Keynote Speaker: Mr. Eric Loh, CEO, Ephone International

2^nd Nov 2011, 10:10 am – 10:40 am

 Delivering healthcare the mobile way

-          Escalating incidents of heart diseases has led to increased fatality due to myocardial infractions, particularly when the condition is not detected early

-          Analysing Ephone’s patented mobile phone with integrated ECG and health monitoring functions

-          With 98% correlation with precordial 12-lead ECG reading, Ephone’s healthcare

Visit our booth to find out more

Qualities of Life, is the first total interactive event in Singapore to educate the public on the topics of medicine, maintenance of health & beauty and raise awareness on the prevention, signs and treatments of critical illness & diseases. We hope to add value to your life by motivating and inspiring you to attain optimal health, beauty, happiness and longevity.

Come to our booth located at E09 to get your free ECG screening.

Receive a special promotional package only at this event.  Pay less than S$100 a month for 12 months and the phone is yours.

Singapore Company, Ephone, Catches the Attention of Medical and Healthcare Professionals from 25 countries at the Thai Medical Fair 2011

-       Showcase of EPI Life in Bangkok, the world’s first mobile phone with integrated ECG capabilities

Ephone International (Singapore) is attracting enormous attention for their groundbreaking device EPI Life at the Medical Fair Thailand 2011, which is being held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand from 14 to 16 September 2011. 

Their revolutionary device EPI Life not only makes calls and sends SMS, but also comes with an integrated electrocardiogram (ECG) that is easily handled by a non-medical user and complemented by a package of Mobile Health Concierge services easily accessible 24-hours from anywhere in the world. 

Attracting thousands of medical and healthcare professionals people to their booth, Ephone has given the medical and healthcare profession from 25 countries a glimpse of leading healthcare technology and services that are now available – where mobile phones will not only record heart rhythm, but could monitor blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol too among other health care possibilities, while supported by a comprehensive suite of mobile health services that are accessible by the user and their medical doctors and hospitals.

Venue: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Date: 21 – 24 June 2011

Booth: BD02-01

We are located within the Infocomm Development Authority Pavillion.

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MOBILE Phones these days have many built-in functions as technology advances.  Now, another feature can be added to its repertoire – helping us to save lives.

The EPI Life is a phone that can take an electrocardiogram (ECG) reading within 30 seconds, transmit the readings to a medical call centre where a team of doctors will analyse the results, and mobilise an ambulance when there is an impending heart problem.

This device enables doctors to remotely monitor their patients after they leave the hospital, and allows people who experience the transient symptoms of a heart condition – such as palpitations and chest pains – to “catch” their heart reading and seek medical help from their doctors after that.

Unlike using a traditional ECG machine which requires a patient’s chest, arms and legs to be strapped with electrode pads, EPI Life users need only place their fingers on the sides of the phone, through which the metal leads will capture the electrical activity of the heart.

Although such a single-lead ECG reading is not as comprehensive as a complete 12-lead ECG reading, it is the simplest and best way to detect an abnormal heart rhythm. “It was never our intention to replace the ECG machine.  What we are offering is an option of ad-hoc monitoring, which was not available to patients before,” says Chow U-Jin, medical director of Ephone International (EPI), the home-grown company behind the device.

Since its launch in June 2010, the company has sold 2,000 units here and in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and India.  Three months into 2011, it chalked up 40,000 orders from six different countries.  It is projecting a turnover of $40 million for the financial year ending December.

Last year, EPI also won several accolades from the local infocomm sector, including the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) Awards and the National Infocomm Awards (NIA).  On the international stage, the company won the Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards for Best Start-up Company and Best E-Health Category.

These accolades are long overdue as the idea to miniaturise ECG capability into a mobile device was hatched 10 years ago.  The, Michael Lim, the inventor and non-executive chairman of EPI, also a renowned cardiologist in the region, recognised the need to monitor his patients after they leave the clinic.

However, it was only three years ago that technology was able to make chips small enough to be installed in the phone.  Last year, with the support from Spring Singapore and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, EPI cleared the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application that will protect its patent in 143 countries.

The EPI life, which is sold at $992 including a six-month subscription to medical support from a call centre, has so far been more successful overseas than in Singapore.  This is due to the company’s strategy to make waves overseas before focusing on marketing the product here.  “We seemed to be told by the market that we need to make our mark outside Singapore beforewe can be successful here.” says Dr Chow.  This strategy has paid off as EPI Life garnered international attention at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.  After the product was featured by wire agencyAFP and Spanish television, the company began to draw the attention of the media here too.

Dr Chow explains that Singaporean consumers are less convinced by a product made here than, for example, those made in Japan.  But the same Singaporean product can be highly regarded in countires across the shores.  He believes that EPI Life’s success overseas will help it gain the confidence of Singaporean consumers.

To distinguish itself from other medical products, the company has made heavy investments to base its entire production in Singapore and to hire qualified doctors from the region to operate the call centre.

Nevertheless, EPI is mindful that the phone has to be kept affordable for its users.  “Being a doctor-run company selling medical devices, we hope that one day it can become affordable enough for every household to have one.” says Dr Chow.  With that in mind, the company is now looking at teaming four senior nurses with every doctor in its call centre to reduce cost.

This is also why the company made EPI Life into a 2G, instead of the more expensive 3G phone.  But now that smartphones are all teh rage, the company has developed another product targeted at this market segment,  At a quarter of the price, but with the same ECG capabilit, the EPIMini can be connected to any Blackberry, Android, or iPhone via Bluetooth to work just like its predecessor.  The EPIMini will be sold here from July.

In the near future, EPI plans to license the technology to hardware makers so that it can concentrate on service delivery.  When that time comes, EPI will provide health-monitoring services for other chronic diseases as well.

This is all towards a goal of home health and remote monitoring, says Dr Chow, and part of the worldwide initiative to put the responsibility of health back to the patients.

Winners e-Health and Environment “EPI Life”

Feb 26, 2011

IN THE ST NEWSPAPER TODAY

S’pore-made cellphone creates a buzz with ECGs on the go

By Daryl Chin

NSF Wilson Sum (right) credits the EPI Life phone with helping him to prove his heart condition. With him is EPI’s medical director Chow U-Jin. — ST PHOTO: NURIA LING

A MADE-IN-SINGAPORE touchscreen cellphone which can take an electrocardiogram (ECG) reading, transmit it to a medical call centre and receive an analysis of the result is making waves in the region.

The company behind the device, called EPI Life, has sold 2,000 units here and in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and India.

Test to clear it for sale in France are ongoing, and talks are on to take it to the rest of Europe, America, the Middile East and Africa.

Made by home-grown company Ephone International (EPI), the cell-phone gained an international profile at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week.

EPI’s medical director, Dr Chow U-Jin, said he chalked up 40,000 orders from that event and, with the gadget priced at $992, is projecting revenue from these orders to hit about $40 million for the financial year ending December.

One person who has benefited from using EPI Life is Wilson Sum, 20 a full-time national serviceman with bouts of heart palpitations. When the Infantry trooper had an episode in February last year, he could not convince his camp medical officer of it because his heart rate had returned to normal by the time he reported sick.

On the advice of his cardiologist, he rented an EPI Life unit. About eight heart specialists here rent out this device to their patients at a rate of about $200 a week. Mr Sum said: “The next time I had a bout, which feels like someone turned up the switch next to my heart and makse me dizzy and short of breath, I took a reading to prove that my case was a legitimate one.”

The readings resulted in his being downgraded in his Physical Employment Status; he will now do clearical work, involving no physical exertion, for the rest of his national service.

Cardiologist The Straits Times spoke to said that although useful, the device is not a substitute for a proper check-up and face-to-face time with a doctor. Dr Ching Chi Keong, a consultant in the Department of Cardiology at the National Heart Centre Singapore, said that because of its size, the cell-phone device cannot give a full ECG, which requires 12 tracings.

But he added that it is handy to have around for heart patients with transient symptoms. EPI’s Dr Chow noted that only 500 units of EPI Life have been sold here, and that more orders have come from overseas. His view is that SIngaporeans are too attached to their smartphones to buy the EPI Life, which combines a phone and possible life-saving device.

The cellphone penetration rate here was 137 per cent as of 2009, and four in five phones sold are smartphones. To reach these consumers, EPI has come up with the EPI Mini, which is also a portable ECG machine but works via bluetooth in tandem with major smartphones such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android and Windows Mobile phones.

It will be sold here from July for about $130; readings start at $10 apiece

(Courtesy of The Straits Times)