This MVP laboratory deals with current topics of biomedical engineering. However, the research area is constantly expanding, and it may help solve various problems in public health and home care. The main research idea of this laboratory is about the research and development of intelligent systems for monitoring human – vital functions using clothing for mobile monitoring of these human – vital signs. The main research goal is to contribute to the fulfilment of the future platforms based on wireless control and transmission of life functions of a person with the possibility of subsequent health care in real-time. The solution is based on the latest global trends in applied research in the intelligent textiles field and clothing designed for mobile monitoring of human – vital functions.
The concept of Smart Clothing or its elements are also integrable, for example, to the bed (home bed or patient’s bed) and allow non-invasive monitoring of the human ECG signal. Also, it is possible, for instance, integration into car seats or vigilance of the driver evaluation. Within the laboratory, an application was created to monitor human movement in a model apartment and detect non-standard situations – for example, fall, which monitors selected points on the human body in space using Microsoft Kinect technology to implement actions.
In addition, the communication between software and connected devices is based on LoRa technology and used in Internet of Things solutions.
The laboratory has a prototype of intelligent clothing with built-in textile sensors, a communication interface and a terminal with a user interface to create a comprehensive mobile monitoring system of human – vital signs. From the application aspect, intelligent clothing has a wide application in the monitoring of life functions and human health with priority application mainly in the areas of
- healthcare: monitoring patients, in particular with chronic diseases (neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, strokes and heart attacks) without restricting their regular activities; monitoring the health status of the child (diagnosis of sudden and unexpected death syndrome – SIDS), prevention of healthy people and monitoring of vital functions of the elderly or people with health risks,
- sport: continuous capture and monitoring of biometric data in sports activities;
- applications for protective clothing in sectors with a risk to human life, e.g. fire brigade, police, army, et cetera,
- automotive industry: monitoring the vital functions of the vehicle crew.