Doctors have successfully undertaken live monitoring of the heart health of athletes running a marathon, it has been announced.
Developers say the technology may help prevent the fatal rhythm disorders that can affect runners unexpectedly.
It has been tested in two marathons in Germany.
The technology links continuous electrocardiogram surveillance to the mobile phone network and to a telemedicine centre.
During the two races five healthy runners, with an average age of just over 40, tested the technology, which used Bluetooth to move data from the ECG to a mobile phone.
In the first race the technique proved flawed – but developers undertook more work on the software and retested it six months later.
This race had 15,000 runners and 300,000 spectators.
This showed a 72 second average delay in data reaching the telemedicine centre – but the quality of the data was "excellent," the researchers say.
The study was reported in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology.
The developers say there are more challenges in making the system workable – such as how the system could monitor thousands of runners at once.
Professor Friedrich Köhler, from the Centre for Cardiovascular Telemedicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, said: "The marathon might be just a first indication for the continuous surveillance of vital parameters with mobile phone technology. There are opportunities in other endurance sports and even in other fields – perhaps in the drivers of high speed express trains."
Electrocardiographic monitoring during marathon running: A proof of feasibility for a new telemedical approach. Eur J Prevent Cardiol 29 October 2014; DOI: 10.1177/2047487314553736.
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