A “smart” t-shirt is being piloted in Leicester to evaluate its usefulness in helping clinicians to diagnose breathing pattern disorders more accurately, with support from the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme.
The Anasa® system Smart Shirt, developed by wearable tech company Atride, is currently being trialled with patients at the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, hosted at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. According to UHL, it combines nanotechnology and electronics woven into its fabric to enable continuous respiratory monitoring.
Breathing pattern disorders can be difficult to diagnose due to reported breathlessness being attributed to other conditions like asthma, notes Tom Ward, academic clinical lecturer at the BRC, so having a tool capable of identifying small changes in a patient’s breathing could make “a meaningful difference”.
Ward goes on to explain how the t-shirt functions, with two sensor bands positioned across the sternum and abdomen providing “an exciting opportunity to measure breathing pattern” in people’s day-to-day lives. “We‘re comparing the data it collects with our current gold‑standard method, which involves motion‑capture photography to observe chest and abdominal movement,” he went on. “If the t‑shirt proves comparable, it could offer a simpler, more comfortable and more accessible alternative for patients.”
Atride CEO Maria Kontogiorgou spoke of collaborating with “outstanding teams” at the NIHR, adding: “We’re capturing respiratory intelligence with remarkable consistency through a shirt that feels almost invisible. This study asks an essential question: Can continuous, wearable monitoring achieve the same level of accuracy as established gold standards while remaining effortless for the patient?”
A video uploaded to YouTube offers more insight into the research and how the smart t-shirt is being used in supporting breathing pattern disorder diagnosis in patients.
Wider trend: Innovation in diagnostics
Liverpool-based Spotlight Pathology has secured £1.4 million in seed funding to support the development of its AI-powered blood cancer diagnostics software. The funding round was co-led by the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) and Liverpool City Region Seed Fund. Funding will be used toward product development, regulation, and clinical adoption for the company’s AI software capable of analysing digital pathology images to support the earlier identification of blood cancers.
The UK Government has published its National Cancer Plan for England, backed by billions of pounds worth of investments in areas such as digital diagnostics, and informed by almost 12,000 responses to an earlier call for evidence from individuals and organisations. Through the call for evidence, 70 percent of respondents identified earlier cancer diagnosis as a priority for the new plan, with actions for timely referrals from primary care, increased symptom awareness, and improved cancer screening. Histopathology services will be transformed with a £604 million capital investment in digital diagnostics including digital pathology, as well as £96 million to automate histopathology and speed up processing and reporting.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has opened an offering to provide regulatory advice meetings on medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices for manufacturers, at a cost of £987 for one hour. During the one hour meeting, the person or organisation requesting support is to begin with a short presentation outlining their questions and the “issues and controversies” surrounding them. The service aims to provide regulatory advice relating to medical devices, particularly if the application of existing regulatory guidance is not straightforward.
