Capable of recording electrocardiogram signals and lactate levels, the Chem-Phys wireless device could help athletes to train better and doctors to monitor patients with heart problems. Worn on the chest, its sensors track the heart’s electrical activity and the body’s lactic acid, an indicator of physical exertion. Created by University of California, San Diego nanoengineers and electrical engineers, it’s one of the first devices to monitor the body’s electrical and biochemical signals in real time.

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Scaffolding used to grow cardiac tissue could eventually act like a pacemaker to help damaged hearts. Harvard University researchers have developed nanoelectronic-enabled scaffolding that grows heart tissue, to which it can then monitor and respond. Ultimately, this implanted bionic patch could replace tissue damaged by a heart attack. It could also detect abnormal heart rhythms earlier and respond to them more precisely with the appropriate voltage.

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Cardiogram, a heart rate-tracking app that relies on smartwatch heart sensors, is being taught to detect atrial fibrillation, a common type of irregular heartbeat. The app’s developers and University of California, San Francisco researchers have launched a study to collect heart data from roughly 10,000 participants to help train the software. Left untreated, atrial fibrillation can double a person’s risk of dying from a heart-related cause.