New home scales from French firm acquired by Nokia measure how healthy your heart is
Device pairs with app which makes suggestions to improve cardiovascular health based on measurements
Consumer electronics firm Withings has designed a set of scales that can check the health of your heart as well as your weight, the company claims.
The device, Body Cardio, is able to measure pulse wave velocity, which is produced by the beating of the heart and can correlate with hypertension (high blood pressure). Normally, pulse wave velocity can only be measured in a clinical setting, according to the French company.
"Body Cardio can detect when blood is pumped from your heart and it measures the rate at which pulse waves move along your arteries," Rachel Glum, a copywriter for Withings, said on the company's blog.
"The stiffer your arteries, the more quickly blood moves through your body. Conversely, a low pulse wave velocity indicates more flexible arteries and lower blood pressure."
The device is paired with Withings Health Mate app, which can interpret the measurements and suggest recommendations to improve cardiovascular health.
Cardiovascular disease has a huge cost in the US. Research by the American Heart Association in 2011 estimated the medical costs for treating problems such as heart disease, hypertension and stroke would increase to US$818 billion by 2030, from US$273 billion in 2010.