Smart Textiles and Stanford partner on covid-detecting knit
Sweden's Smart Textiles (part of Science Park Borås at the University of Borås) and the US's Stanford University have begun a feasibility study into the development of a knitted garment that can detect the illness symptoms of covid-19 or other conditions in essential workers or people with disability.
The project will involve developing a prototype of a smart shirt manufactured with knitting technology that enables integrated sensors. “The technique will also allow the garment to sit tightly against the body and can be adapted to each person’s body shape and size, which is necessary for the function of the built-in technology,” according to Smart Textiles.
Capabilities of the shirt are expected to include measuring body temperature, respiratory rate and heart rate and detecting coughing in its wearer. Data collected will be sent to a central server for analysis to detect significant deviations from a normal state.
"There is a great need to be able to detect illness symptoms in essential workers in a fast, reliable, and sustainable way," Smart Textiles said in describing the project. "Similar needs are also present in groups which may have difficulty in communication or, for various reasons, with being examined or managed in a traditional way in healthcare." The company said examples of others who could benefit from the shirt include the elderly and those suffering from dementia or mental illness.The prototype will be evaluated at the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The collaboration also includes Chalmers University of Technology and Stanford Hospital.
