Smart Shirt

The Smart Shirt is manufactured by Sensatex, but was developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology and originally funded by the US military's 21st Century Land Warrior Program and the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (Bowie 2000). The shirt contains sensors that can be used to monitor vital signs such as heart rate, EKG, respiration, and blood pressure (Tollen 2001).

How It Works
The Smart Shirt uses what the company calls interconnection technology that involves networking sensing, monitoring, and information processing devices (Sensatex 2005). Information from the optical sensing and electrical conducting fibers in the shirt are sent to a “transmitter at the base of the shirt where it is stored on a memory chip or sent to your doctor, coach, or personal server via a wireless network like Bluetooth, RF, wLAN, or cellular network”(Tollen 2001).

Health Monitoring
The Smart Shirt system designed for health monitoring can be adapted to various health related applications to meet the needs of the patient (Sensatex 2005). The initial System consists of three lead EKG, heart rate monitor, and respiration monitor, with the option to add more sensor features (Sensatex 2005). “The information flows from sensors to either a personal controller or via other electronic means to interface for transmission to a monitoring station, physician or other appropriate location” (Sensatex 2005).

First Responders
The Smart Shirt System designed for First Responders has one goal which is to “significantly minimize casualties for first responders by providing knowledge of their health status to on-scene commanders in a number of emergency situations” (Sensatex 2005) has developed a First Responder Smart Shirt incorporating: sensors for continuous biometric monitoring, an electronic controller and optional bi-directional wireless telemetry system to ensure their safety, and an electronic controller and optional bi-directional wireless telemetry system to communicate all First Responder team information including biometric data to off-site personnel for a better coordination of the rescue operation (Sensatex 2005).

Athletes
The Smart Shirt System designed for athletes can be used to maximize training and performance. The Athletic Smart Shirt System allows the athlete to track and monitor “biometric data, such as heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, caloric burn, and provides readouts via a wristwatch, PDA/smart phone, or voice” (Sensatex 2005). The information can also be stored and accessed using the internet in order for the athlete to track his or her progress over time.

Other Applications
Some other possible applications for Smart Shirts include monitoring Hazardous-Materials personnel, soldiers on the battlefield, and truck driver fatigue. Smart Shirts will likely make their way to the battlefield in the future. The shirt will not only allow soldiers vital signs to be monitored from anywhere, but their exact position will also be monitored. This will not only provide a strategical advantage to our soldiers but also improve the response time of medical personnel.

Benefits
The design of the Interconnection Technology allows for a fully-fashioned garment to be produced from two-dimensional fabric without the need to cut and sew the garment which allows for it to “be incorporated into any fabric (cotton, lycra, wool, silk, etc.) or blend of fabrics without effecting the look, feel or integrity of the fabric that it is replacing”(Sensatex 2005). The information collected by the shirt can be accessed from a remote location therefore improving diagnosis time and also providing a sense of security for the user.