BioGram stamps users’ heart rates onto photos

BioGram

BioGram is a new mobile app created by the cardiologist experts at the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Body Computing (CBC) along with collaborators at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and private companies AliveCor and Medable. Available as a free download for iPhone users, the HealthKit-enabled application allows heart rates to be shared with a photo.

BioGram works by stamping heart rates onto photos that can be posted to Facebook and other social media. The user’s heart rate is recorded from AliveCor’s Heart Monitor; and for those without an ECG reader – heart rates can be input manually or from another sensor.

“The convergence of health, technology and mobile digital devices is allowing us all to become smart patients,” said Leslie A. Saxon, M.D., executive director of the USC CBC and the co-inventor of Biogram. “Now millions of people can add biostatistical information to existing photo-sharing social media activities, and while it provides insightful data that is emotional, aesthetic and informative, it also makes health education more entertaining.”

Students from USC Viterbi School of Engineering provided coding for the app, under the direction of faculty member Trina Gregory. USC CBC was responsible for development and design on the project and medical-based app-development company Medable provided HIPAA-compliant services while AliveCor hardware records the actual heart rates.