A wireless digital “plaster”’ that can monitor vital signs continuously and remotely is being tested with patients and healthy volunteers at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, in a new clinical trial run by Imperial College London researchers.
Toumaz Technology’s Sensium digital “plaster” or “patch”’ is a disposable device that sticks to a patient’s chest. It is designed to allow patients to have their health monitored continuously without being wired up to bulky, fixed monitoring machines, potentially freeing some patients from their hospital beds. The digital plaster is based on technology created by engineers at Imperial College London and can monitor a range of vital signs such as body temperature, heart rate and respiration in real-time. The intention is that healthcare professionals will be able to download this information using a mobile phone, enabling them to pick up on any critical changes in their patients’ status on a 24-7 basis and allowing early detection and treatment of any unforeseen complications. The data can also be integrated automatically into the patient’s electronic medical record.
