A set of scales that can check the health of your heart as well as your weight has been designed by consumer electronics firm Withings, the company claims.

Pulse wave velocity, which is produced by the beating of the heart and can correlate with hypertension (high blood pressure) is measured by the machine which has been christened Body Cardio. According to the French company’s press release, pulse wave velocity can only be measured in a clinical setting under normal circumstances.

High blood pressure, stiff arteries, and a risk of hypertension could be indicated by a faster PWV.

“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.”

Withings Health Mate app, which can interpret the measurements and suggest recommendations to improve cardiovascular health, has been paired with the device.

A significant amount of costs to the society is comprised of by cardiovascular diseases. The medical costs for treating problems such as heart disease, hypertension and stroke would increase to $818 billion by 2030, from $273 billion in 2010, estimated a research by the American Heart Association in 2011.

A useful snapshot of one’s health can be got from the scale which is especially important for people who have high blood pressure or in cased where one’s family history puts one at risk for more heart problems than the average person.

Withings Go fitness tracker which shows the basic activity data on an E Ink screen are among the latest devices that are developed by Withings. The company introduced the Smart Body Analyzer scale back in 2009 and it brought out a simplified version of that called the Wi-Fi Body Scale in 2013. The company said that the older scales which would not be sold any more would be replaced by the two new scales – Body and Body Cardio.

Technology based mobile solutions to health care — which also creates an attractive opportunity for tech developers, could help abate the rising public costs of health care. Global revenues from mobile health solutions will reach $23 billion by 2017, PwC estimates.

Through the acquisition of Withings, Nokia made a play into the mobile health space earlier this year. Withings’ former CEO Cédric Hutchings was placed in charge of its new digital health unit by the Finnish telecom network equipment maker which completed the acquisition of the former at the end of May.

“The Nokia brand is synonymous with innovation, connectivity and consumer technology and the acquisition of Withings puts us in a perfect position to capitalize on the huge opportunity in the health space,” Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies, said in a press release in May.

The devices that were launched are priced at $129.95 for Body and $179.95 for Body Cardio.

(Adapted from CNBC & The Verge)

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