Lightweight flexible health patch prototype demonstrated

European scientists and engineers have been able to develop a new prototype flexible health patch that could be ideal for consumer applications in future.

Weighing just 10g, the patch is half the weight of current alternatives and uses real-time electrocardiogram, tissue-contact impedance and accelerometer information to accurately monitor physical activity.

It has been developed by the Holst Centre in Eindhoven in collaboration with Belgium's Imec research centre and Shinko Electric Industries. Its electronics module measures less than two by two cm, offering high-accuracy algorithms and low power consumption.

Demand for small, lightweight monitors that can flex and move with the body are currently on the rise, with the new device addressing the need for better, more efficient healthcare monitoring systems.

Chris Van Hoof, wearable healthcare programme director at the Holst Centre and Imec, said: "Comfortable, lightweight wearable systems for personal health monitoring are emerging, given their promise to better analyse patients' physiological parameters."

A recent study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University suggested that patches of this kind could make it easier to catch health conditions before they cause pain, discomfort and illness.