Wearable with ECGs take home health monitoring further than most consumers would have deemed likely so soon after the heath tech began to emerge from fitness trackers. We’ve written about Cambridge Heartwear’s Heartsense 3-lead ECG device. We also covered the Heartin Fit, a smart ECG t-shirt with two built-in textile nanoelectrodes.
Israel-based HealthWatch also has an ECG t-shirt, called the Master Caution. The Master Caution digital garment is a 3-12 lead ECG wearable that is both CE and FDA cleared. The shirt looks like a vest. It is made of d-textile technology, with wearable textile electrodes and heart-sensing sensors. According to HealthWatch, the Master Caution’s medical-grade digital health diagnostic services include mobile cardiac telemetry and patient monitoring telehealth services. Clinicians can use the garment to remotely monitor elderly and bed-ridden patients for real-time alerts of cardiac events such as ischemia and arrhythmia. In addition to the ECG function, the Master Caution also monitors skin temperature, and respiration. It can even monitor body posture to aid in tracking patient activity and fall detection.
The Master Caution system hardware includes the garment and a device fits in a pocket on the lower left side of the garment. The device transmits data via Wi-Fi plus 3G and 4G cellular systems to the Master Caution Cloud, which also connects to a Physician and Patient Call Center. AI-driven cloud-based software and a mobile application manage patient information and detect vital sign events. According to the company, the Master Caution system is compatible with most cardiac telemetry system. Because the garment does not require skin preparation (such as shaving) and the electrodes are automatically placed without the need for professional help, health care costs are lower and patient compliance and quality of life improve.
We’re not yet close to the time when each of us will wear clothes that track all vital signs and diagnosis every minor and major health threat. Master Caution is a sign, however, that the ages of ubiquitous health monitoring may be closer than some of us might imagine.
