Cotton vest aims to predict, prevent MI in CHF patients
A French health tech company debuted its Chronolife vest—a cotton- and lycra-based wearable aimed at preventing medical emergencies in patients with chronic or congestive heart failure (CHF)—at CES 2019 in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, CNET reported.
Unlike other “smart shirts,” like Servier and Bioserenity’s Cardioskin, launched last year, Chronolife claims its vest doesn’t require any kind of charging or batteries, using its embedded sensors to track a user’s heart activity, breathing, body temperature and general physical activity each day in real time. The vest is meant to be worn daily, holds up in the wash and reportedly alerts users to potential future heart attacks based on the data it collects.
According to CNET, users don’t need an internet connection to use the device, though it does connect to a secure cloud and an app that’s available to patients and their providers. Chronolife is targeting CHF patients in particular, since half of those diagnosed with the condition die within five years from CVD-related issues.
The vest is expected to retail around $228, but hasn’t received CE marking or FDA approval yet.
“Keep in mind that because it hasn’t gotten approval from either organization yet, and the fact that we weren’t able to see a live demo for ourselves, it’s best to take Chronolife’s claims with a grain of salt,” CNET reported. “Regardless, it’s also developing other preventive devices and clothing to predict sudden infant death syndrome, seizures caused by epilepsy and medical conditions related to sleep apnea.”
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.