High-Tech Health Monitoring

New High-Tech T-Shirt Is Future Of Health Monitoring

Going to the doctor for a check up could soon be a thing of the past. Scientists in Spain believe they have developed ‘intelligent T-shirts’ that are capable of monitoring vital signs such as heart rate and temperature. 
The T-shirts, which are expected to go on sale to the general public this year,are made of conductive 'e-textiles' which have electrodes integrated into the fabric. These are used to measure a person's heart rate and can even take an ECG.The raw data is collected by what is technically known as an 'acquisition device' which is worn around the neck under the T-shirt. From there the data is sent wirelessly to a computerised management system, which interprets the results. And that’s not all the T-shirt does. The ‘acquisition device’ element also includes a thermometer that presses against the skin and another specialist instrument, an accelerometer, which indicates how active the patient is, whether they are lying down or sitting up and so forth.If a key indicator reaches a dangerous level, an alarm is triggered so that doctors can intervene either by contacting the patient or - in extreme cases - sending an ambulance.  
The T-shirt is an important breakthrough that will particularly help keep patients from having to spend time in over-crowded surgeries and hospital wards. 'The idea of it is to be non-intrusive,' said developer Jose Ignacio Moreno, from Carlos III  University in Madrid.'The patient can be monitored in real-time without any cables due to the wireless platform, so they can stay in bed or walk around as they wish.'The advantages of the T-shirts are numerous, from freeing up patient and doctors to get on with their lives to combating the threat of picking up hospital bugs such as MRSA by staying at home. The shirts can even be washed in standard washing machines, allowing patients to keep them clean of infections and bugs. The first pilot scheme and special management centre was set up 18 months ago by four Spanish companies in partnership with Jose Moreno, Gregorio Lopez, and Victor Custodio at Carlos III University in Madrid and was tested by five patients at the Cardiology Unit of La Paz Hospital in Madrid. Results were so encouraging that the shirts are now being offered to a much wider audience.
Soon millions of people could be getting on with their day-to-day lives while at the same time wearing discreetly concealed heart monitors and thermometers.