Japanese company develops wearable ECG textile

Japan's Teijin Group has announced that its constituent Teiken Limited has jointly developed a wearable electrode textile, incorporating the Nishijin-brocade weaving technique that enables rapid, accurate 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements.

In a statement, Teijin Group said the development was carried out jointly with professor Tomohiro Kuroda, director at division of information technology and administration planning of Kyoto University Hospital and the Advanced Scientific Technology and Management Research Institute of Kyoto (ASTEM) .

Teiken manufactures and sells high-performance fibre products for health, comfort, disaster-prevention and safety.

The new e-textile, a fabric with built-in electrical circuits, incorporates 8 of the 10 electrodes required for 12-lead ECG measurements. It can be used for ECG measurements simply by wrapping it around the patient's torso and under the armpit.

The e-textile uses the Nishijin-brocade technique, in which a single weft thread is continuously woven into a complex design. As a result, one strand of conductive thread can be fabricated into a high-quality ECG-measuring fabric with electrodes and conducting wire in a stable, industrialised fashion.

The new wearable e-textile will be displayed at Teijin Group's booth at MEDTEC Japan, Asia's largest medical device tradeshow, which will be held at the Tokyo Big Sight from April 22 to 24. Teiken hopes to bring the wearable ECG textile to market within 2015, initially for use by first-responders when transporting patients during emergencies.

Cardiac disease, the second-leading cause of death in Japan, is responsible for the increasing emergency transport of patients suffering from cardiac problems. To improve survival rates, acute ischemic heart disease requires rapid treatment, including measurement of the patient's 12-lead ECG prior to emergency transport. (SH)