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University of Missouri Researchers Design New Heart Health Wearable

Article

Using a $2.6 million grant from NIH, researchers at the MU College of Engineering are designing a breathable material with antimicrobial properties for use with a wearable heart monitor.

Zheng Yan, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical, Biological and Chemical Engineering and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a team of researchers at the University of Missouri are using a $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help create a breathable material—with antibacterial and antiviral properties—to support the team’s ongoing development of a multifunctional, wearable heart monitor.

A researcher examines the health monitoring part of the wearable device under a microscope in Yan's lab. The lab is located in the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building. Pate McCuien/University of Missouri

A researcher examines the health monitoring part of the wearable device under a microscope in Yan's lab. The lab is located in the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building. Pate McCuien/University of Missouri

The wearable device is designed to continuously track the health of a human heart via dual signals simultaneously—an electrocardiogram (ECG), which measures a heart’s electrical signal, and a seismocardiogram (SCG), which measures heart vibrations. After these signals are recorded on an electronic device, this information could be shared with a person’s healthcare provider to help identify potential warning signs related to heart disease.

From left to right: Ganggang Zhao, Zehua Chen, Zheng Yan, Yadong Xu and Brian Arends. Pate McCuien/University of Missouri

From left to right: Ganggang Zhao, Zehua Chen, Zheng Yan, Yadong Xu and Brian Arends. Pate McCuien/University of Missouri

Similar devices in existence today typically only monitor the human heart via an ECG, and have limited long-term use. Currently the device is a small, wired patch connected to a small data processor that can be attached to a person’s shirt, and researchers hope to one day develop a wireless version.

Read more about the new wearable here.

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