Evaluation of Wearable Vest for Lung Monitoring

This was the pilot study of the EU funded research and innovation project WELMO (Wearable Electronics for Effective Lung Monitoring) -Grant agreement number: 825572. The clinical trial involved patients suffering from a variety of respiratory pathological conditions and examined the ease-of-use and efficacy of the WELMO system, comprising a sensors vest for thorax auscultation and recording of Electric Impedance Tomography (EIT) signals and transmitting those on the cloud for review by physicians. The study recruited and briefly monitored 27 patients who underwent brief training and subsequent wearing of the sensors vest for 15-20 minutes, after manual auscultation, spirometry and oximetry. The collected data were transmitted wirelessly to a tablet and then securely to the cloud for review by attending physicians. The usability of the system, the quality of the obtained signals and the validity of the results were evaluated.