Finally…an Intelligent T-Shirt!

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    Is this science fiction or what? There is now a T-Shirt (prototype and not for sale) that can read your blood pressure, monitor some vital signs, determine if you are lying down or standing, and yes, even locate you with a localized GPS system. Wow! “Honey, did you really go to the store?”

    Scientists at la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid who participate in the LOBIN consortium have developed an “intelligent” t- shirt that monitors the human body (temperature, heart rate, etc.) and locates patients within the hospital, as if it were a GPS system that works in closed spaces; it can even determine if the subject is seated, lying down, walking or running.

    According to the University “Using this garment-based patient biomonitoring platform allows us to register a number of the patient’s physiological parameters in a non-intrusive manner. The information gathered by an intelligent t-shirt using e-textile technology is sent, without using wires, to an information management system, which then shows the patient’s location and vital signs in real time”, explain the UC3M researchers. The system is designed to be used in hospitals and can be divided into two parts: the fixed infrastructure, which would be pre-installed in the hospital, and the mobile units, which would move with the patients.

    The mobile units include an “intelligent t-shirt” and a localization device, which can be carried in a pocket and, which they intend to incorporate into the garment in the future. The t-shirt is washable and includes electrodes that detect bioelectric power through which an electrocardiogram can be obtained. In addition, it has a removable device that includes a thermometer and an accelerometer, which are used to take the patient’s temperature, his/her relative position (reclining, standing, etc.) and his/her level of physical activity.

    Our guess is you won’t see these on store shelves soon but for the medical field and for athletes it could be a huge development.

    Read full Carlos University article here.

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