Wearables

  • Improving eye tracking to assess brain disorders with wearable sensors

    Wearable sensors to examine eye movement to assess brain disorders or damage to the brain have been developed by a team of engineers. Many brain diseases and problems show up as eye symptoms, often before other symptoms appear. Eyes are an extension of the brain and can provide early warning signs of brain-related disorders and information [...]

  • Resilient wearable turns human body into a charging point

    Researchers have developed a prototype device that can harvest energy from body heat and turn it into electricity that can be used to power small electronics. Unlike predecessors, however, the device is also resilient — still functioning after being pierced several times and then stretched 2,000 times. Traditionally, devices that use heat to generate electricity [...]

  • Baby brain imaging device marks new landmark in brain function tracking

    Technology which uses harmless light waves to measure activity in babies’ brains has provided the most complete picture to date of brain functions outside a conventional, restrictive brain scanner. The wearable brain imaging headgear, which was developed in collaboration with UCL spin-out Gowerlabs, found unexpected activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain [...]

  • Finger wrap uses sweat to provide health monitoring at your fingertips

    A sweat-powered wearable has the potential to make continuous, personalised health monitoring as effortless as wearing a plaster, new research has found. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an electronic finger wrap that monitors vital chemical levels—such as glucose, vitamins, and even drugs—found in sweat. The device, which wraps snugly around [...]

  • Wearable heart monitor increases diagnosis of irregular heart rhythm

    Wearable, long-term continuous heart monitors helped identify 52 per cent more cases of atrial fibrillation compared to usual care, but that did not lead to a reduction in hospitalisations due to stroke, according to a new study. The findings provide inconclusive data about whether atrial fibrillation screening lowers stroke rates. The Covid pandemic led to [...]

  • Tech could help shed light on involuntary nervous system’s role in sepsis and PTSD

    A wearable, non-invasive device can measure activity in human cervical nerves in clinical settings and could help shed light on the involuntary nervous system’s role in sepsis, PTSD and other inflammatory conditions. The device records what the UC San Diego research team calls Autonomic Neurography (ANG), neural activity from the human vagus and carotid sinus [...]

  • Is AI neurotechnology a game-changer in mental health research?

    A new brainwave analysis solution is aiming to transform cannabis and mental health research by analysing the effects of different medicines on the brain. Understanding the effects of medicine on an individual is usually based on qualitative research in the form of patient questionnaires. While quantitative brainwave analysis is commonly used in neurology research, it [...]

  • Consumer wearables could make ‘positive contribution to routine care’

    Consumer wearables that measure heart rate and physical activity provide similar clinical value to standard hospital tests for atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure, new research has found. The study, published in Nature Medicine, examined whether a commercially-available fitness tracker and smartphone could continuously monitor the response to medications, and provide clinical information similar to [...]

  • Wearable tech collaboration aims to make gaming more accessible

    A US university has announced a collaboration with Meta which aims to make computer-based tasks accessible to more people. The project focuses on using wearable sensing technology to enable people with different motor abilities to perform everyday tasks and enjoy gaming in digital and mixed reality environments. Meta’s research in electromyography uses sensors placed on [...]

  • Does sweat hold the key to simple, non-invasive diagnosis?

    A new wearable health monitor that could quickly diagnose common diseases by tracking the biochemicals in sweat during physical exercise, is being developed by researchers in the US. The wearable health monitor, pioneered by Washington State University (WSU) researchers, can reliably measure levels of important biochemicals in sweat during physical exercise. It could eventually provide [...]