Rethinking health – right inside the vehicle

With the ambition of rethinking prevention, making health technologies suitable for everyday use and transforming vehicles into active health companions, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the BMW Group are collaborating on a joint research project in the field of Automotive Health. The study will explore how modern, AI-based vehicle sensors can detect drivers' health status. The long-term goal is to develop technologies that can passively collect vital parameters while driving, enabling the early detection of health risks such as strokes or heart attacks. At a press conference, the partners presented details of the collaboration.

“Partnerships like this are crucial for advancing innovative approaches in health research,” says Prof. Heyo K. Kroemer, CEO of Charité. “The results of our study will provide valuable insights for health promotion and more effective emergency prevention.”

Dr. Rudolf Bencker, Senior Vice President Invention & Innovation at the BMW Group, adds: “The partnership between Charité and the BMW Group is an important step toward healthier and safer mobility. Together, we are committed to ensuring that vehicles are not just modes of transportation, but actively contribute to people’s health and well-being.”

The vehicle as a research platform

As part of the study, a vehicle was equipped with a wide range of advanced sensors that record vital parameters such as skin conductivity, heart rate, and respiratory rate – in some cases even without physical contact. These sensors enable standardized, continuous, and repeatable collection of medically relevant data under real-world conditions.

Measurements are conducted in realistic settings, such as road traffic, while the vehicle is parked, and on a test track. Unlike classic wearables, drivers do not need to operate any devices; measurements occur almost automatically. The study also considers external factors such as weather, driving behavior, and stress levels. Participants include healthy individuals as well as people with elevated cardiovascular risk or preexisting conditions. A comprehensive clinical assessment at the beginning of the study ensures the reliable classification of results.

"Our goal is to identify the most reliable technologies for detecting health anomalies in vehicles," summarizes Dr. Alexander Meyer, Professor of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Chief Medical Information Officer at the German Heart Center of Charité.

"Threrefore, are evaluating the validity and quality of the recorded vital signs under various driving conditions," explains Dr. Matthias Franz of BMW Research and New Technologies and the project lead for Automotive Health. “For example, we compare vehicle sensor data with data from high-end standard devices used in cardiology.”

Intelligent early warning systems in the car of the future

The vision behind the project goes well beyond data collection and validation. In the long term, systems will be developed that can recognize health changes early and issue timely warnings — for instance, in the event of exhaustion or emerging cardiovascular problems. Future applications may also include telemedicine consultations or continuous monitoring of chronically ill individuals.

"By continuously and multimodally collecting health data, we're establishing a new foundation for developing personalized prevention programs," says Prof. Meyer, who also leads the Automotive Health project at Charité. “This allows us to identify risk profiles much more precisely and develop targeted interventions.”

Safety remains the BMW Group’s top priority, as Dr. Franz emphasizes. "We aim to enhance driving comfort and safety by adapting the vehicle setup to the driver’s current performance level. The BMW Group is contributing its extensive expertise in sensor technology, automotive engineering, and data processing to this collaboration.”

Technological innovation meets medical research. "The vehicles of the future should be more than just means of transportation," says Dr. Bencker. “They will be intelligent systems that detect health risks early, act preventively, and provide professional support in emergencies.”

Prof. Kroemer adds: “Healthcare needs to reach people where they live, work, and drive. This partnership with the BMW Group demonstrates how technological innovation and clinical research can collaborate to address the challenges of an aging society.”

The first results of the study are expected by the end of the year. In the long term, the partners aim to integrate the findings into standard vehicle features and health-promoting programs. One of the project partners is the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD), one of six German AI competence centers, where Prof. Meyer serves as a research group lead.

Source: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin , “Mobility meets medicine: Health check in the car”, 06|26|2025

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