Six Health Gadgets That Could Save Your Life

A T-shirt with electrodes woven through its fabric could provide an early-warning system for heart patients – alerting doctors of abnormal heart patterns. The hWear ECG-sensing T-shirt was shown off at the American Telemedicine Association this year – woven with sensors that collect data and upload them to a monitoring device via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

EpiWatchThere are other companies which offer similar “smart wearables”, but HealthWatch claims its offers “intensive care-level” monitoring. “Our hWear T-shirt garments measure the highest-quality vital signs all without adhesives, gels or shaving preparations for both men and women. The garments are machine-washable and compatible with most cardiac telemetry systems,” said Uri Amir, CEO of HealthWatch.

A new smartphone app could diagnose cancer simply from smelling patients’ breath – without the need for time-consuming blood tests or X-rays. The technology can identify people who are at risk of specific cancers, or ensure that sufferers are diagnosed and treated early. The SniffPhone uses a “breathalyser” add-on which will plug into smartphones and analyse the gases in users’ breath – before sending the data to doctors...