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A STUDENT in Valencia has invented a T-shirt which detects heart attacks, arrhythmias and other cardio problems and sends a message to the wearer's computer or mobile phone.
Natalia Guzmán, 21, who is working on a biomedical engineering degree at the CEU San Pablo University, says the T-shirt is 'very comfortable to wear' and feels no different to 'any other that you buy in a shop'.
“It has cloth patches on the back which are sewn through with a conductor thread that carries ECG signals, right down to the waist, where dry electrodes are connected to an electronic pad,” the young designer explains.
“It's this which sends the physical information being monitored to a computer, or even to a mobile phone.”
Despite its built-in components, the patches with signal threads and the electronic pad are 'completely flexible', making them 'every bit as comfortable as any other top', with 'no rigid elements', and enables the person wearing it to be 'remotely monitored at all times'.
“Even visually, it doesn't look any different to any other type of textile we might wear on a day to day basis,” says Natalia.
“It could be used, for example, by anyone from a sportsperson who wants to keep a check on their heartbeats, through to a person with a chronic heart condition who needs to be monitored constantly, and it's much more comfortable than having another, similar device like a Holter [a portable ECG machine worn under the clothes for up to 48 hours to check heart rhythm during normal daily activity], since the main aim was to create something that was easy to wear – so that a person who had to be monitored every day around the clock could carry on with their normal life without being hindered through having an ongoing health condition.”
She is currently working on a 'new prototype' of the same kind of T-shirt, but using polymer instead of the conductor thread and patch.
This liquid would also be able to send messages about heart behaviour to the electronic pad at the waist.
“We need to continue researching wearer behaviour – for example, we've noticed that, in women, it would be better to create a bra with the same functions.
“The ECG signals are picked up best through the person's back, but the ECG patch falls right over where the bra strap is.
“So we're studying how the T-shirt works on wearers of different sexes and ages.”
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