(Credit: Hexoskin)
Most wearables are worn around the wrist. But what about the clothing on your body?
Smart clothing and body sensing technology, developed by Hexoskin, a clinically validated system for non-invasive monitoring solutions, can be used for ECG cardiac monitoring with lung function and monitoring daily activity. It is designed especially for athletes and patients.
Additional functions of The Hexoskin Connected Healthcare Platform include collecting biomarkers used for clinical assessments, collecting real-world evidence for studies, and collecting patient generated data.
Hexoskin designed the garment with a washable fabric that is embedded with cardiac, abdominal, respiratory sensors, and a 3-axis accelerometer used to track activity/acceleration. This will enable studies for cardiology, respiratory, sleep, CNS, mental disorders, and stress.
The cardiac sensors allow for ECG (one channel, 256 Hz), to detect heart rates ranging from 30 to 220 BPM, RR intervals (4 ms resolution), and heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Additional assessment channels include: disconnection detection, 50 to 60 Hz noise detection, and saturated ECG signal detection. They are made of a textile-based with a silver coated nylon.
The breathing sensors include two channels (128 Hz) and can sense breathing rates from three to 80 BPM. Its assessment channels include disconnection detection, noise detection, and baseline change detection.
Lastly, the movement sensors are used to detect acceleration using three channels (64 Hz, +/- 16 Range, 0.004 g Resolution).
Both the breathing and movement sensors are Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography (RIP) sensors.
The accelerometer is a 3-axis sensor.
From these sensors, Hexoskin developed a series of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) sensors to provide HRV and sleep analysis data.
The system can also help reduce the number of trips to the doctor’s office by allowing medical professionals to remotely monitor the data.
Hexoskin is compatible with iOS, Android, Watch OS, and Android Wear.
