COLLABORATION. The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) is now publishing for the first time its 100 List highlighting interesting research with potential for the private sector. In one of the projects on the list, researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy are collaborating with RISE and the University of Borås to develop a comfortable shirt with built-in sensors that measure symptoms in individuals with conditions such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
IVA’s presentation of the 100 List is in connection with the Academy’s 100th anniversary celebration, and the Academy will continue to present similar lists each year during the next 10 years. Several projects on the list are connected to Sahlgrenska Academy, including wearable sensors in smart textiles (wearITmed).
“We are very honored and pleased that IVA sees the potential of our project,” says Kristina Malmgren, a professor of neurology at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience and head of the project. “Wearable technology is indeed a growing field from both a research and commercial standpoint. With existing commercial products, we are unable to develop and validate the specific applications that interest those of us in health care. Our project is generic, meaning that the shirt with sensors can be used for a variety of patient groups for which the technology needs to be tailored in terms of both algorithms and sensor placement.”
Stylish and comfortable shirt
WearITmed is an interdisciplinary project developing an advanced shirt with built-in sensors that can monitor movements, respiration and heart rate of patients with epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease or stroke. Support for the project is provided by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, along with partners from the RISE Research Institute and the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås. In addition to Malmgren, who is responsible for the epilepsy field in the project, those involved include Filip Bergqvist, an expert in Parkinson’s disease, and Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen and Margit Alt Murphy, both of whom are experts in strokes.
The project has been under way for almost five years and has made a lot of progress, says Malmgren.
“We have a stylish shirt made of a comfortable fabric that is washable with all the electronics in place, apart from the battery, which is unique. To work for patients, it needs to be easy to use! We have come a long way with algorithms for patients’ motion and heart rate. We are now working to add and evaluate sensors for other physiological variables such as electro dermal activity, oxygen saturation and changes in blood pressure.”
Better diagnostics
The project sees great potential for the wearable shirt, because it enables monitoring of patients’ symptoms in their everyday lives and not just during infrequent and short visits in a hospital or clinic.
“By identifying symptoms better, we can improve diagnoses and optimize therapeutic interventions. Through our focus group studies, we know that patients favor being included in this way,” says Malmgren, adding that researchers in the project also see great potential for developing other applications than the ones they are now working on.
“For example, we are planning a continuation project in obstetrics along with Bo Jacobsson and Henrik Hagberg to measure fetal movements.”
IVA’s 100 List is part of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences’ Research2Business (R2B) project that promotes collaboration among researchers, the private sector and society. The project is being conducted in collaboration with Vinnova (Sweden’s innovation agency), the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Knowledge Foundation, and Sweden’s colleges and universities.
On March 20 the researchers on the 100 List presented their research for more than 100 companies in the new R2B Summit meeting place held at IVA in Stockholm. Invited speakers included Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneur Anita Schjöll Brede, Information Technology Professor Amy Loutfi and Swedish Minister for Enterprise Ibrahim Baylan.
The theme of this year’s list is digitization. You can read the entire list here: https: https://www.iva.se/projekt/research2business/100listan/
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
