United States: Medical experts have developed a sensor-filled T-shirt that assists doctors in monitoring the vital signs of patients as they leave the hospital setting, according to researchers.
More about the news
The wearable technology featured in the shirt may enable healthcare providers to send patients home early for recovery after urological cancer surgery based on research results obtained from this initial small-scale study.
According to the lead researcher, Dr. Antonio Pastore, an associate professor of urology at Sapienza University of Rome in Italy, “Our patients found the T-shirt easy to use, and over 90% reported it allowed them to feel safe and cared for while recuperating at home,” US News reported.
Researchers collaborated in developing a light T-shirt containing sensors that track heart electrical data alongside respiration rates, heart rate measurements, and body temperature readings.
An app, together with web-based software, accepts data output from the shirt.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Pastore, “The T-shirt we gave to patients differs from smartwatches and other wearables.”
“It can reveal more data, including electrolytes, which we need to continue to monitor after bladder surgery as they can reveal mineral imbalances that lead to serious complications,” he continued.
The study between 35 T-shirt wearers post robot-assistance urological procedures and 35 standard cared patients determined their differences.
Doctors released standard-care surgical patients through normal hospital procedures ranging from three to five days after surgery.
The T-shirt patients were released from the hospital one to two days earlier than the standard patients and needed to use their telemonitoring garment for three-hour sessions each day for two weeks, as US News reported.
Findings of the research
Research reveals that 26% of standard-care patients required medical care before their scheduled check-update, whereas the T-shirt group had just 6% hospital reattendance.
The T-shirt successfully identified early signs of heart issues in five patients, according to researchers who then followed up with a proper diagnosis followed by treatment options.
“In Italy, where standard discharge time after this type of robotic-assisted urological surgery can be at least 72 hours, being able to allow patients home sooner improves their quality of life as they feel more comfortable in their own environment, and it means we can free up hospital beds too,” Pastore noted.
The annual meeting of the European Association of Urology in Madrid hosted research findings on Saturday.