WEALTHY
Wearable Health Care System (IST-2001-37778, EU funded project)
Starting date: 01/09/02; closing date: 28/02/05; total project cost: 3,859,060 Euros; total EC funding: 1,775,569 Euros.
A new concept in healthcare is emerging, aimed at fulfilling the need to continuously monitor the patient’s vital signs through a ground-breaking woven sensing interface to be worn without any discomfort for the user. In our project, smart material in fiber and yarn form endowed with a wide range of electrophysical properties (conducting, piezoresistive, etc) will be integrated and used as basic elements. The simultaneous recording of vital signs allows parameters’ extrapolation and inter-signal elaboration. This contributes to evaluate the patient’s synoptic data table and to trigger alarm messages.
WEALTHY system will be implemented by integrating computing techniques, smart sensors, portable devices and telecommunications, together with local intelligence and a decision support system. The proposed system will assist patients during rehabilitation or subjects working in extreme stressful environment conditions, ensure continuous intelligent monitoring
The WEALTHY project presents two main innovations: the new type of sensors manufactured in textile form to provide a smart and comfortable textile interface, and a new service based on the monitoring system.
In terms of technological innovation, WEALTHY will focus on the following issues, which provide several progress steps compared to the current state-of-the-art:
"Smart" garment fabrics will be developed and tested: These will allow the sensing and preprocessing steps to be "wearable", thus increasing the mobility and safety of the user, and limiting the amount of data to be transferred
Direct
wireless communication over the public network:
Real-time data
transfer will be made possible from anywhere the patient is located,
and not limited to home or hospital
Intelligent
decision support system:
Userfriendly interfaces will help the
interpretation of physiological signals by medical staff and assist
them taking the right decisions
Smartex is involved as subcontractor in the European Union funded project "WEALTHY" as research laboratory of Milior SpA. More information on the "WEALTHY" project can be found at the project official web site:
This project has won the Avantex Innovation Prize in 2005.
