With all the talk about CES 2019, many health-related wearables made an appearance, such as Chronolife’s wearable vest aimed at predicting heart attacks before they happen.
The medical vest, embedded with multiple sensors, captures continuous data based on six physiological parameters, including ECG (HR, HRV), pulmonary impedance, thoracic respiration, abdominal respiration, temperature, and physical activity (fall detection). Combined with machine learning, the vest uses the captured information to indicate the possibility of a medical emergency.
The shirt is meant to be worn daily for continuous monitoring and is machine washable. It also doesn’t require internet connection. The HOTS embedded app can analyze data in real time and alert the wearer in case of an oncoming emergency. Additionally, doctors have access to the data accumulated through the cloud service that records the patient’s data. The patient’s data is then uploaded whenever a WiFi connection is available and the smartphone is turned on.
Currently, the Chronolife vest is not available to buy as it is waiting for regulatory approval. The company hopes to receive CE marketing in Europe by spring of 2019, and approval for the US market by summer of 2019.
Chronolife also hopes the vest can eventually play a role for other medical conditions such as sleep apnea, sudden infant death, and epilepsy.