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WEALTHY shirt records ECG for cardiac patients
05 Sep '06
3 min read
A shirt capable of recording the electrocardiogram (electrical activity of the heart) has been developed and tested in a European research project (WEALTHY, Wearable Health Care System), funded by the European Community, European Society of Cardiology.
The first results about the use of the WEALTHY shirt by cardiac patients is being presented at the World Congress of Cardiology 2006 by cardiologists from the Coronary Care Unit and Cardiovascular Informatics and Epidemiology Unit of the San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy.
The shirt takes advantage of the technology of “smart textiles”, i.e. textiles endowed with a wide range of electrophysical properties and containing various sensors of biological parameters, in particular tissue electrodes.
By twisting stainless steel wires around a viscose yarn a fabric was produced which is capable of working as an electrode (a device to record electrical activity) and therefore able to be used to record the electrocardiogram.
The shirt looks like a common shirt and is connected to a small electronical device, which records the electrocardiogram and can transmit it by GPRS network (like a common mobile phone) or by bluetooth connection (like the wireless device used for personal computers or earphones).
The device was tested on 15 cardiac patients, performing different levels of physical activity, and compared to a standard system to record the electrocardiogram commonly used in the hospitals.
The first results about the use of the WEALTHY shirt by cardiac patients is being presented at the World Congress of Cardiology 2006 by cardiologists from the Coronary Care Unit and Cardiovascular Informatics and Epidemiology Unit of the San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy.
The shirt takes advantage of the technology of “smart textiles”, i.e. textiles endowed with a wide range of electrophysical properties and containing various sensors of biological parameters, in particular tissue electrodes.
By twisting stainless steel wires around a viscose yarn a fabric was produced which is capable of working as an electrode (a device to record electrical activity) and therefore able to be used to record the electrocardiogram.
The shirt looks like a common shirt and is connected to a small electronical device, which records the electrocardiogram and can transmit it by GPRS network (like a common mobile phone) or by bluetooth connection (like the wireless device used for personal computers or earphones).
The device was tested on 15 cardiac patients, performing different levels of physical activity, and compared to a standard system to record the electrocardiogram commonly used in the hospitals.
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