A tiny device invented by Belfast company ST+D allows medics to assess a patient's condition by clicking on a website, reducing time spent in hospital and freeing up beds.

The invention is a disposable adhesive patch worn on the patient's chest. A small electronic unit with wireless technology is attached which sends signals back to the doctor.

A specific version of the device is now being developed by ST+D, based at Heron Road in the Harbour Estate, and the Royal Victoria Hospital in a project funded by the Wellcome Trust, the UK's largest medical research charity.

The investment by the trust is the first of its kind for a private

sector business in Northern Ireland.

Ted Bianco, director of technology transfer at the Wellcome Trust, said: " This device certainly has the potential to change the way doctors monitor their patients' hearts. Testing it in a hospital environment is the first step to validating the technology and gaining useful insights into how it might best be deployed, both in the clinical setting and beyond."

Michael Caulfied, chief executive of ST+D, said the device brought many benefits.

"It will free up hospital beds because of earlier release of heart patients and cut down on in-patients' appointments, while at the same time giving early warning of any problems," he said. "While it's not designed to provide emergency alerts this technology will warn the clinician of one that may possibly be impending — and of which the patient is unaware. "