Is this the death of smartwatches? They have developed a smart fabric that monitors health in real time.
Health monitoring and exercise tracking is now the domain of smartwatches and rings. But thanks to a breakthrough by a team of researchers at the National University of Singapore, wearable tech is about to change the game.
A new battery-free fabric system that can monitor blood pressure in real time, turning clothing into a permanent health monitoring device, was revealed in a recent article in Nature Electronics, according to Tech Xplore. Instead of relying on wearable devices with limited battery life, this smart fabric uses ultra-thin sensors that adhere to the skin and communicate via a specially designed fabric.
According to the article, this innovation was made possible by a super-material designed to wirelessly transmit power from the smartphone to the sensors. This design separates the power source and data transmission into different frequency channels, helping to reduce interference and maintain a more stable signal—in other words, the mobile phone acts as both a power source and a data center, effectively collecting health information.
On the other hand, it's worth noting that the sensors in this haptic system are extremely thin and flexible, designed to adhere directly to the skin without restricting movement. Furthermore, the fabric layer connects multiple of these sensors in a network, facilitating continuous data collection from various areas of the body.
This touchscreen system focuses on monitoring systolic blood pressure, that is, the force of blood flow during each heartbeat.
In initial tests, the research team obtained accurate measurements even during exercise, a situation where many wearable devices often fail. Therefore, this level of reliability could be beneficial for both ongoing health monitoring and the early detection of potential cardiovascular problems.
Thanks to the success of this innovation, researchers aim to develop clothing that functions as passive health monitoring systems, eliminating the need for separate devices such as smart rings or smartwatches.