Can cell phones save lives?

Here's what I'm getting at. My phone has a wonderful touchscreen which works when you touch it. Since it can sense the touch of my hand, maybe it can be extended to listening to a pulse/heartbeat and send information to a station that can monitor the heartbeat and alert an ambulance in the event of an emergency.

Has this area been explored? What is the potential?
 
Capacitive touch screens are only capable of knowing the location of a touch and nothing else. Resistive touch screens don't perform as well, and I doubt there are any in production that might be able to sense something as light as a pulse. Even if it could, there is no way it would be able to get a pulse through your clothing.

An alternative idea might be some sort of wearable patch or band that monitors your vitals and connects to your phone via bluetooth.
 
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