From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Mon Dec 20 1999 - 07:35:12 MST
>From The Electronic Telegraph,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000343180237640&rtmo=kLeZeqJp&atmo=99999999
&pg=/et/99/12/16/ecnshirt16.html
-
Body sensor vest gives 24-hour guide to health
By Jacqui Thornton
A VEST which continually monitors the health of its wearer, measuring 35
bodily functions including blood pressure, heart rate and breathing
patterns, is due to go on sale in Britain next year.
The LifeShirt, which is in the final stages of development in California,
has six battery-powered sensors built into the cotton and lycra fabric, each
attuned to a different part of the body.
The information they gather is passed to a hand-sized computer worn on the
patient's belt. Data can be sent via the internet to be analysed by
technicians and doctors and, should there be any cause for concern, the
patient and his or her family doctor would be alerted.
The vest, which weighs the same as normal clothing, will cost about £160,
plus £19 a day to pay for the monitoring costs, when it goes on sale next
September. Its makers say that it can be worn under a shirt at work, at
home, in bed, and during sporting activities. It is handwashable and
reusable.
The LifeShirt's developer, Dr Marvin Sackner, a lung specialist, says that
it will give a more accurate picture of a person's health than recordings
taken during medical check-ups. He compares it to a film rather than a
snapshot: "We can look at what is going on when you are at work in a
stressful situation and when you are sitting at home in a relaxed
environment. If you are anxious it can detect the number of sighs and the
depth of sighs as well as your heart rate."
The technology is all currently available in hospitals, but simply
miniaturised to make it portable. Among those likely to benefit are
asthmatics, people with high blood pressure, those with anxiety problems and
anyone thought to be in danger of heart failure. Other potential uses
include monitoring patients after operations and in pain management for
cancer patients.
Andrew Behar, the co-founder of the company that has manufactured the
prototype, said: "If you are on the golf course and you feel a bit
breathless, you can pull out the handset. It works 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, and can predict a crisis before it happens."
The six sensors are positioned from the neck to the abdomen, including a
posture sensor, and four "plethysmograms", which assess various blood and
respiratory flows, at the neck, ribcage, stomach and chest. They monitor 35
types of bodily function derived from heart activity, breathing patterns and
blood pressure.
The LifeShirt can even measure the difference in expansion between the left
and right sides of the thorax, which is symptomatic of fluid in the lungs,
and it can show up cases of sleep apnoea, where people stop breathing many
times during the night. The data is stored in a digital recorder which is
downloaded every 24 hours and analysed. The information is then sent to a
secure website which can be accessed by the patient and his or her doctor.
The development was welcomed by Dr Simon Fradd, the deputy chairman of the
British Medical Association's general practitioners' committee. "This is the
way the future is likely to go," he said. But he gave a warning that the
medical information being sent over the internet must remain secure so that
patient confidentiality is not breached.
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