Now, sensor-packed tee to measure stress levels, sleep
A new sensor-fitted T-shirt that analyses movement, breathing and heart activity, can measure stress levels throughout the day and also monitor sleep. The Hexoskin T-shirt and companion device, currently being developed in Canada, sends the data to an online account via a smartphone. The T-shirt component is machine-washable and water-resistant, and can be worn under any type of sportswear to measure athletic performance in real time. Hexoskin features a precise breathing volume measurement. Breathing volume is also a key marker for sleep monitoring. To monitor the quality of sleep, “the combination of movement, breathing, and heart sensors gives a lot of information about your sleep states (wake versus sleep, movements and sleep positions, light versus deep sleep),” Fournier added. The device picks up activity and stress levels throughout the day. “We use activity patterns, breathing patterns, heart rate variability and other factors to measure stress during the day,” Hexoskin CEO Pierre-Alexandre Fournier told ‘Gizmag’. The device is also designed to make life easier for sports professionals who need to manage teams. (PTI)
Could a simple protein jab treat dwarfism?
A simple protein jab that could reverse the effects of dwarfism in children may be available within three to five years, scientists say. In a breakthrough study, French scientists injected a protein molecule in mice with the condition achondroplasia – a genetic mutation that causes the vast majority of human cases of dwarfism. Two protein injections were given every week for three weeks to the mice, which allowed them to grow fully and the painful complications of their condition were also removed. Since three weeks is roughly equivalent to 15 human years, according to researchers, a similar treatment could theoretically work on children with achondroplasia, up to puberty, and without the need for daily injections. However, adults with achondroplasia, who have already gone through puberty, would not be able to benefit from the treatment. “I’m very excited by this. The treatment is so simple – it’s just the injection of a protein, and the results show it really helped,” said Elvire Gouze, a researcher at the Mediterranean Centre for Molecular Research in the southern French city of Nice. “This is a first, and although there are more steps we need to take before trials on humans, nothing so far has indicated it couldn’t also work for people with dwarfism,” she told ‘The Local’. Gouze believes that researchers could be ready within three to five years to treat humans with this technique. She added that the molecule injection also relieved conditions associated with dwarfism. “It didn’t just help with height, but it also made a difference with all the other complications,” she said. (PTI)
New ‘pacemaker’ device could treat sleep apnea
A pacemaker-like device implanted just under the collar bone can improve sleep in patients with central sleep apnea, scientists say. The small implant being studied for the treatment of central sleep apnea is showing significant promise, according to Dr William Abraham, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Unlike the more common obstructive sleep apnea, in which the airway gets blocked during sleep and causes pauses in breathing, central sleep apnea is more dangerous because the brain’s signals to tell the body to breathe get interrupted. “Central sleep apnea affects more than a third of heart failure patients and is known to make the condition worse,” Abraham said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have good treatments available for this type of apnea. Currently, positive airway pressure devices are used, but many patients don’t tolerate it well,” he said. “One of the concerning features of central sleep apnea is that these patients don’t fit the usual profile of obstructive sleep apnea,” said Dr Rami Khayat, a sleep medicine expert and director of Ohio State’s sleep heart programme. (PTI)