A new material is capable of measuring heart rhythm through your t-shirt

Saharay Perez Bautista
3 min read
A new material is capable of measuring heart rhythm through your t-shirt
Carbon nanotube wires for intelligent clothing

It is a material based on “carbon nanotubes threads” that has been developed by a group of scientists with the objective of Measure cardiac rhythms to detect any heart condition.

This material is as driver as many metals, as resistant as Kevlar and at the same time, as smooth as cotton.

Thanks to its inherence, said material can be used to make clothes “Normal” and even, it could work perfectly as sportswear with technology To take place, that is, as a “wearable”.

So, instead of sticking to the skin, the material can be used in a t-shirt without any complication, as the researchers at the University of Rice affirmed.

On the other hand, it should be noted that, the carbon nanotube yarns that make up the material in question, operate in a way very similar to the cables of an electrocardiogram monitoring device. Likewise, are comfortable for the user, they can be stretched and washed without risk to break.

The material has been used since 2013

To know a little about the beginnings of this powerful material, it is appropriate to highlight that was used for the first time in 2013 when the scientists of a laboratory at Rice University of decided to develop it with the purpose of Cover certain medical procedures(cure hearts, make cochlear implants for hearing loss, etc.).

However, at that time, the original filaments of the material were extremely fine, reason why they couldn't use it in a standard sewing machine.

Consequently, for the Wearable version, the researchers had to be encouraged to work with a string manufacturer and thus, knitting the filaments in a material similar to the sewing thread.

How does the material work in sportswear?

A new material is capable of measuring heart rhythm through your t-shirt
Wearable t-shirt measuring heart rhythm

Thanks to the portable, dry and soft sensors that contain the garment for non-invasive and continuous monitoring of the electrocardiogram, this material allows the t-shirts to function as an intelligent device.

Which has the ability to measure cardiac rhythms accurately and in the same way, discover if there are problems at the user's heart.

But, although they focused on offering comfort to people, the truth is that these intelligent t-shirts are not free of cables.

In view of the fact that, the nanotube fibers immersed in the garment should send signals towards cables that are located at the bottom and basically, they are those dealing with transmitting information to a computer by means of Bluetooth technology.

Despite this, no other material can behave in such a way, guaranteeing flexibility and smoothness at the same time.

Other uses for this material...

In addition to wearable t-shirts, the present material replace the voluminous electrocardiogram holter monitors in the clinical field.

Added to this, due to its great capacity, it is estimated that it could be present in the pectoral straps of the athletes and in the heart rate control clocks.

We have to highligh that, another of the most interesting applications of this technological material lies in the new generation military uniforms.

Being this, an information announced by a graduate student from the University of Rice, known as Lauren Taylor.

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