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Smart Clothing Monitors Health

by Evan Shamoon on June 13, 2007 at 09:01 AM

Smart Clothing Monitors Health
Thanks to a consortium of European scientists, "dressing smart" may no longer mean having to know when it is and when it's not OK to wear white.

The Biotex Program, a group of researchers hailing from eight separate institutions and backed by the EU, is developing clothing that monitors its wearer's health. The "intelligent textiles" contain embedded sensors designed to monitor body fluids such as blood and sweat, which doctors can use to remotely check on the health of recovering hospital patients and those with chronic illnesses.

Eventually, it is hoped the technology will be developed further to monitor vital signs, the progress of wound healing and early-stage infections by looking for abnormalities in the wearer's metabolism.

The technology is not meant to replace visits to the doctor's office, but rather allow doctors to more effectively monitor patients between visits.

At this time, a prototype patch of the fabric is near completion. Testing on volunteers will be next.

Bring it on. We'd wrap ourselves up like the Invisible Man in this stuff if it meant avoiding long waits in the doc's office.

From BBC

Tags: clothing, future, health, medicine, textile

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