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Singapore Scientists Invent High-Tech SOS Shirt For Elderly
Singapore (AFP) Oct 11, 2004 Scientists here have invented a high-tech shirt designed to send out an alert if an elderly person suffers a fall, a product expected to be in great demand among Singapore's rapidly ageing population. The shirt, using Bluetooth wireless technology, will send a signal to a mobile phone or computer which will then alert relatives and friends of the victim with a call, SMS message or email, the Straits Times reported Monday. One in five persons in Singapore is expected to be over 65 years old in 25 years as a result of a declining birth rate and longer life spans, posing serious social, economic and health concerns for the city-state. "When a person falls, that's bad enough, but if he falls and there's no one to help him, it can be fatal," said Associate Professor Francis Tay of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Tests of the prototype on 40 volunteers detected 100 percent of falls, the report said. The next step is to incorporate the electronic sensors into the clothing itself through interwoven wires and optical fibers. "It's not too far-fetched to design a personal air bag which could protect the wearer once the device senses he is about to topple over," the inventor added. Alarm devices now commercially available require the elderly to press a trigger to send out an alarm, which is useless if the victim is unconscious. The same technology being applied to the elderly can also be developed to monitor the physical performance of young athletes and soldiers in the field, the report said. All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Space Medicine Technology and Systems
Genomic Sequences Processed In Minutes, Rather Than Weeks
Richland WA (SPX) Jun 22, 2005A new computational tool developed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is speeding up our understanding of the machinery of life - bringing us one step closer to curing diseases, finding safer ways to clean the environment and protecting the country against biological threats. |
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