Researchers from Rice University have come
up with a technology that can convert nanotube fibre into athletic wear which
can turn a regular T-shirt into a heart monitor.
This heart monitor is even capable of
taking a continual electrocardiogram (ECG) of the wearer. This idea is not a
new one, but the technology is in its very early stage so not many people are
aware of it. According to a new study, Lauren Taylor, Student, Rice University,
had presented a t-shirt that can monitor heart activity with as much accuracy
as compared to specialised equipment.
The nanotubes are strong, conductive, and
bendable. They contain tens of billions of carbon nanotubes. The researchers
use a rope-making device to bundle the filaments together because the original fibres are so thin that they just can’t
weave them into clothing. Later, these bundles are put together so that they
can achieve a thread-size thickness that is thick enough to be used in
clothing. The end product is easy to wash, soft, and the whole process can be
easily scaled.
In this research line, two types of shirts
were produced. One with two threads that acted like a heart rate monitor and
the other one has five threads that acted like an ECG machine. These threads
were connected to a Bluetooth transmitter. The data which was collected was
later sent to three cardiologists for evaluation.
Source – ZME Science
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