Can we use our smartphone without additional peripherals or wearables to accurately extract vital parameters such as heart rate and stress? The team of Professor Enrico Caiani of DEIB showed that it is possible to do this by using the smartphone accelerometers. Through them it is in fact possible to acquire the signal linked to the cardiac mechanical activity, generated by the vibrations of the heart with each beat, which can be perceived simply by placing the telephone in particular positions on one's body. The study, carried out in collaboration with the team of Professor Gianfranco Parati of I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Auxologico Italiano, of the Department of Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Neurological Sciences at the San Luca Hospital in Milan, was recently published on Sensors, the leading international open-access, peer-reviewed journal on the science and technology of sensors and biosensors.