Wearables Step Up for Heart Health

February was declared American Heart Month in the United States in 1964 due to the glaring evidence of the “staggering physical and economic loss” due to cardiovascular disease. After many years of education, community programs, and medical advancements, the number of Americans dying from heart disease has been drastically reduced. Even with the reduced numbers, however, we still have a ways to go. As medical technology advances, we find new ways to treat those suffering from, and born with, heart disease—which is where wearable electronics come in.

Wearable electronics that can monitor and treat conditions wirelessly provide freedom from wires and allow people with heart disease to continue a somewhat normal life as they receive treatment.

Scientists of the University of Tokyo have developed a second skin that is able to perform heart scans – something that is only available at hospitals. The elastic material can be stuck onto the body and is embedded with an integrated sensor system, which can wirelessly record and transmit the patients biometric data to a smartphone in real-time.

Physicists at the University of Sussex designed a new kind of wearable technology: liquid-based sensors. This new technology contains graphene, a sensitive (yet strong), flexible and conductive material that is able to track vital information wirelessly, such as respiration and heart rates.

As someone who was born with congenital heart disease, I can attest to how much technology has improved quality of life in this area. With the help of wearable electronics, I no longer have to sit in a hospital room tethered to a machine so that my doctor can monitor my heart on a long-term basis.

So far as anyone can tell, the wearable heart device industry is driving strong trends of R&D investments and we can’t hardly wait for the new products that are going to be the next blow in the market!

To read more about this fantastic technology, read the complete article on Wearable Technologies.