Lack of appetite, bóles głowy, senność, rzadkie oddawanie moczu, a nawet utrata przytomności. This is all symptoms of dehydration that we are exposed to regardless of the season. High temperatures certainly exacerbate them, but so do various ailments such as diarrhea or kidney disease. Children and the elderly are most at risk of dehydration, especially during the summer period.
Textiles, electronics and medicine together!
A team of specialists from Łódź University of Technology decided to take up an unequal fight against the problem of dehydration and received the necessary support for this purpose. The myHYDRO project research was co-financed by the European Community Knowledge and Innovation program EIT Health, which is dedicated to research for healthy aging, and its Polish partner is the Łódź Medical University.
The invention developed by Łódź University of Technology is a textile armband that is to monitor hydration of the human body, primarily in people actively engaged in sports as well as children and seniors due to diminished thirst with age. It is an innovative combination of textiles, electronics and medicine. Studies involving the prototype are to begin shortly, and the finished product is expected to reach the market in approximately three years.
The results are extremely promising, and the project itself has received numerous distinctions. In 2016 it won the InnoStars Award and first prize in the Digital Health International Jury of InnoStars Award Competition category. Furthermore, it won distinctions three times in the International Business Plan Aggregator program in Barcelona (in the same category), and this year it received first prize in the „Young in Łódź = I Have a Business Idea” Competition.
Polish potential from Łódź
Polish potential was also appreciated on the international stage! Representatives of Łódź University of Technology – Dr. Eng. Magdalena Owczarek from the Institute of Textile Architecture and Eng. Ewelina Pabjańczyk-Wlazło, a doctoral student at the Department of Materials Science, Commodity Studies and Fiber Metrology at Łódź University of Technology (as the only ones from Poland!) won the international LaunchLab program of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology at YESDELFT in the Netherlands.
The Polish invention could be a solution for people suffering from many diseases related to dehydration. The human body can lose up to 10 liters of water during periods of greatest heat, which for many of us could prove tragic in its consequences. The armband created by the myHYDRO project will be extremely helpful for both the youngest and oldest people, as well as athletes! This innovative combination of electronics, medicine and textiles could in the near future save the health and even the lives of many of us!
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