Clothes that monitor your health

Your jacket could soon be monitoring what is going on inside your heart and brain and send the critical information to your doctor for a quick analysis.

Researchers at Universite Laval in Canada have created smart textiles that can monitor and transmit their wearers' bio-medical information through wireless or cellphone networks.

The team created the smart fabric by sandwiching multiple layers of copper, polymers, glass and silver.

"The fibre acts as both sensor and antenna. It is durable but malleable and can be woven with wool or cotton. The signal quality is comparable to commercial antennas," said Younes Messaddeq from Universite Laval.

The surface of the fibre can be tuned to monitor information such as glucose levels, heart rhythm, brain activity, movements and spatial coordinates.

The fabric could help people suffering from chronic diseases, elderly people living alone, and even firemen and police officers.

"The technology will have to be connected to a wireless network and there is the issue of power supply to be solved," said Messaddeq.

The findings were described in the scientific journal Sensors.