Making smart clothes for improved health
A team of EU-funded researchers has succeeded in embedding sensing devices directly into textiles to create garments that are not only comfortable and practical to wear, but also smart. The devices will help physicians keep an eye on their patients. Healthwear ('Remote health monitoring with wearable non-invasive mobile system') was supported with EUR 990,000 by the EU's eTEN programme. The collaborative project targeted the delivery of a service that provides uninterrupted and ubiquitous monitoring of the health condition of people during their rehabilitation phase. 'Remote monitoring is ideally suited to patients suffering from chronic diseases or recovering from an incident, such as a heart attack, who would otherwise have to spend longer in hospital or visit their doctor more frequently for checkups,' Dr Theodore Vontetsianos, the head of the e-Health Unit at 'Sotiria' Chest Diseases Hospital in Athens, Greece, told ICT Results. Until now, remote health monitoring systems depended on sensors strapped to users' limbs or chests connected to large equipment. The Healthwear system collects all the information from the sensors into the Portable Patient Unit (PPU) device. The data are then transmitted via a secure GPRS (general packet radio service) mobile connection to a central server. 'By embedding the sensors in a vest that patients feel comfortable wearing, and requiring only a mobile phone-sized device to gather and transmit the information, the system empowers patients to be more active and independent while letting caregivers check on them at any time or in any place as necessary,' Dr Vontetsianos said. Alexis Milsis, Sotiria e-Health unit research engineer, noted that doctors and caregivers can access a patient's electronic health record (which stores his/her information) via a secure TCP/IP (Internet protocol suite) connection, in either near-real time or off-line mode. According to Mr Milsis, the technology is both simple to use and transparent. 'The technology needs to be transparent to users if they are going to be comfortable with it,' the research engineer said. 'They don't want to be surrounded by cables and different devices that they have to plug in. This is especially important since the patients being monitored are usually elderly.' By accessing the patients' data, caregivers can get a solid look at how the patient is progressing over time. Physicians can also speak with their patients via a videophone and instruct them to carry out various exercises while the doctor checks the patients' ECG (electrocardiogram) and oximetry readings. Said Dr Votentsianos: 'The contact with their doctor builds up a strong feeling of safety for the patient, and it is also much more convenient than having to make a trip to the hospital.' The team at 'Sotiria' Hospital conducted a number of trials which showed that patients feel comfortable using the technology, and that patient comfort and quality of care are strengthened. Just as significant is that costs will be reduced through this system. 'As with all new technology, the costs of implementing the Healthwear system are high if it is done on a small scale, but the system and its components could readily be mass produced and widely deployed,' Mr Milsis remarked. 'That would bring down the implementation costs substantially and result in considerable savings for private and public health providers.' The Healthwear consortium consists of Greece's COSMOTE Mobile Telecom, ATKOSoft SA, 'Sotiria' General Chest Disease Hospital, Spain's Hospital Clinic I Provincial de Barcelona (HCPB) and Italy's Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele and Milior SpA.
Countries
Greece, Spain, Italy