HearTex -Heart & Respiratory Textile Sensors Smart textiles with acoustic sensors for heart/lungs

Significant progress has been made in the field of contactless vital sign monitoring in recent years. The device enables the measurement of respiration, heart rate and oxygen saturation without skin contact. The combination of optical sensors and radar for contactless measurement of heart rate, respiration and temperature is state of the art. Although camera systems are expensive, there is a need for sophisticated, context-sensitive systems that reliably extract vital sounds (heart/lungs) and comprehensively record vital parameters without contact. At the same time, trends are emerging: miniaturised, low-energy sensor technology and non-invasive methods.

While optical and radar approaches are already being further developed, the acoustic dimension has been underrepresented so far – especially in textile-integrated, skin-friendly form factors. These should record vital acoustics (breathing and heart sounds) close to the body in the incubator.

Added to this are acoustically challenging environments: continuous noise levels of up to 70 dB, interspersed with short-term peaks (alarms, door noises, conversations), have been shown to cause stress in premature babies. The resulting stress is associated with neurological risks (e.g. learning difficulties, behavioural disorders) and impairs physical and cognitive development. Silent ICU initiatives aim to reduce alarms and improve room acoustics.

• Vital sounds are recorded non-invasively and respiratory and heart rates are derived in real time using textile-integrated structure-borne sound sensors.

• The microphone array is designed to reliably detect and classify ambient noises such as alarms, conversations and doors, and then initiate noise reduction.

• The reduction of background noise goes hand in hand with the use of digital twins of the womb

Types of partners sought:

•         ZeMA: Smart textiles, material- and manufacturing-compatible integration of acoustic sensor technology, ergonomics and safety.

•         Medical technology OEM (incubator/monitoring) for integration and approval path

•         Embedded hardware/edge AI (MCU/NPU, audio front end)

•         IT/interoperability (KIS, FHIR/HL7, security)

•         Regulatory/QMS/CRO (MDR, ISO 13485/14971/62366)

•          acoustics/standardisation (IEC 60601-1-8)

•         Parent initiative/ethics board for acceptance