University of Missouri Researchers Design New Heart Health Wearable

Zheng Yan, an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical, Biological and Chemical Engineering and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a team of researchers at the University of Missouri are using a $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help create a breathable material—with antibacterial and antiviral properties—to support the team’s ongoing development of a multifunctional, wearable heart monitor.

A researcher examines the health monitoring part of the wearable device under a microscope in Yan's lab. The lab is located in the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building. Pate McCuien/University of Missouri

The wearable device is designed to continuously track the health of a human heart via dual signals simultaneously—an electrocardiogram (ECG), which measures a heart’s electrical signal, and a seismocardiogram (SCG), which measures heart vibrations. After these signals are recorded on an electronic device, this information could be shared with a person’s healthcare provider to help identify potential warning signs related to heart disease.

From left to right: Ganggang Zhao, Zehua Chen, Zheng Yan, Yadong Xu and Brian Arends. Pate McCuien/University of Missouri

Similar devices in existence today typically only monitor the human heart via an ECG, and have limited long-term use. Currently the device is a small, wired patch connected to a small data processor that can be attached to a person’s shirt, and researchers hope to one day develop a wireless version.

Read more about the new wearable here.