Researchers develop steering wheel with health sensors

Developed in conjunction with BMW at the Technische Universität München’s school of micro technology and medical device technology, the steering wheel conducts a minor health check on the driver each time they get in their car. It may also be optimised to recognise the onset of heart attacks or fainting spells.

By integrating appropriate sensors into the steering wheel, the team claims it has managed to circumnavigate the task of attaching wires to the driver, a scenario that was necessary in previous systems developed to measure stress levels in drivers.

Two sensors are embedded into the wheel, which are used to monitor different aspects of human health. The first shines infrared light into the fingers and measures the driver’s heart rate and oxygen saturation via reflected light; the second measures the electric conductance of the skin at contact.

The data is radioed to a microcontroller, which in turn can show the measurement results on the vehicle information system display.