Sensatex Inc announced that it would shortly begin field trials of its patented SmartShirt System. The SmartShirt System is a seamless shirt designed to monitor an individual’s heart rate, respiration and movement wirelessly and remotely. The field tests are the final step before the product will be commercially available.
Based on patents licensed from Georgia Tech University and additional patents filed by Sensatex, the SmartShirt collects physiological signals from the wearer’s body which are converted to digital signals using a small personal controller and sent wirelessly to a base station through either Bluetooth or ZigBee wireless technology.
“We are very excited about beginning field tests of the system in different environments testing different applications,” Robert G. Kalik, CEO of Sensatex, said. “Sensatex is seeking corporate partners to sponsor field tests to ensure a wide range of test applications and environments. We are presently in discussions with companies and governmental agencies in five countries to act as research sponsors for the field trials.”
Potential test applications include first responders, military personnel, people with sleep apnea, homebound elderly, post-operative patients, truckers, patients undergoing physical rehabilitation, patients in rural settings and more. The SmartShirt will be tested in a variety of environments including indoors, outdoors, and underwater, as well as in very dry and very humid settings. The data collected will enable Sensatex to finalize its first commercial product and position the company for the first possible FDA application using a smart textile system.
With the announcement of its field test program, Sensatex also announced that it would begin to seek a new round of financing to be used to launch the commercial product. Sensatex will begin building out its platform technology by developing other products utilizing its wide patent portfolio.
“One of the new technologies we are working on is sleepwear for infants that will monitor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” continued Kalik. “The field testing will provide us with valuable data to address current challenges in a range of settings, and give us information to develop important new products.”
Early research for the SmartShirt System was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG). Sensatex’s six original licensed U.S. patents on conductive fiber usage, developed by Georgia Tech, illustrate the novel design for intelligence capability and information infrastructure of the SmartShirt System. Beta testing for the system was announced last year.
The SmartShirt is a seamless light, breathable, nylon fabric with fully integrated conductive fibers, creating connectivity to acquire and transfer physiological signals to a small controller where the signals are digitized and sent wirelessly to a remote location.
