Launched at last month’s MWC in Barcelona, YouCare is a remote health monitoring service based on wearable technology that is totally textile, washable and easy to use.

This innovation, made in Italy, can detect a large number of bio-vital parameters of individuals and transmit them in an intelligent way using 5G.

The project focuses on the use of textile devices such as a T-shirt without metal components and with sensors naturally set into the fabric. The project was presented at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

During the event, Chinese firm ZTE said it believed that 5G technology was the key to a better quality of life. Starting from next autumn, ZTE will initiate the YouCare 5G test in its innovation and research centre in L’Aquila, Italy.

YouCare enables the detection of bio-vital parameters, such as a real electrocardiogram, respiratory act analysis, components of sweat, muscle effort and body temperature that have never been detected by textile sensors. The T-shirt allows the transmission, via a 5G ZTE connection, to health centres and control, as well as to individual users.

“It is an invention that will change the life and the quality of home and remote medical assistance to many citizens experiencing health problems and vulnerable people suffering from chronic diseases, ensuring accessibility to care services and the support of our national and international network,” said Francesco Rocca, chairman of Italian Red Cross. “We have been working on the project since 2018 and today we are able to present the results of this important experimentation, born in the most difficult moment of the Covid emergency. This experimentation allows us to think with pride about the path made so far and to look to the future with hope and certainty of having demonstrated the commitment, the ability and the dedication of the Red Cross network, to use and to disseminate new technologies for the service of the people and of the society.”

The textile technology, patented and certified, could lead to services for the protection of health in the areas of telemedicine, work, sport and an individual’s general well-being. By monitoring health, stress and active living behaviour, it can improve the safety of people, the elderly and athletes.

The bio-vital parameters of YouCare, detected by imperceptible polymeric sensors set in the fabric, are sent to a small control unit that records the data, converts them into digital format, and sends them, using 5G, to a bidirectional platform transmitting them to the user’s smartphone or smartwatch in addition to a remote unit that analyses the values using medical software.

“From the very first moment,” said Umberto Sgambati, CEO of Proger Group, which created the smart T-shirt sensor, “we have believed and invested in what seemed to us a totally revolutionary idea that today is a concrete reality. Certified as a medical device, it has been enriched by the predictive algorithms of cardiovascular disorders of BSP-Medical, the world leader in the field of medical data science.”

ZTE provides telecommunications systems, mobile devices and enterprise technology for consumers, operators, businesses and public sector customers. Listed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges, it sells its products and services in more than 160 countries.