SINGAPORE: A T-shirt that can monitor the heart, glasses that can study vital signs and breathing patterns, and underwear programmed to play soothing music when a rise in stress levels is detected.
These are just a few of the smart devices developed in the wearable space in hopes of saving lives, and one organisation in the United Kingdom UK that oversees hospitals has been testing their impact.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, part of the UK health system, has been partnering with companies to trial wireless technologies. Ms Claire Richardson, its commercial director, told CNA that such devices are a key part of the jigsaw in the efforts to improve healthcare.
She said that wearable devices are already changing patient pathways and are able to monitor and change treatment patterns in order to save lives. She highlighted their use in cancer recovery.
She said that we're using smart wearables to be able to see the effect of the treatment on the patient in recovery from surgery, so we can adjust the treatment pattern and make sure it fits with the patients.
The devices ensure that healthcare professionals are not overstressing the body. She said that treatment plans can be changed if they are recovering better.
Ms Richardson said that heart failure patients are being monitored via wearables, so they can manage their condition better at home.
The advancement in wearable technology means that devices don't have to be clunky.
The market's smart rings use light-based optical sensors to deliver continuous heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen data.
They may also provide an energy score that helps people make personalised lifestyle choices.
Sensors have gotten so small that they take up just a space of a fingerprint and can be stuck onto a patient to monitor their vital signs, said Ms Richardson.
It just sits there like a bandaid would. It just monitors and transmits the data. She said that the technology is already there.
Innovations are being made to make them easier to use, even for devices that require charging. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts have invented a biofilm powered by perspiration. It sticks to the skin like a bandaid and converts energy from evaporation into electricity.