Here's an intriguing finding - silkworms  can produce silk with graphene embedded, which gives material with electrical conductivity! With further development, materials with these properties moves us closer to the day when we may be wearing 'ordinary' clothing which gathers and transmits information in real time about our health. So all of us can then have a longitudinal personal health record assessed constantly by AI systems which feedback instantly any concerns being noted. No need to visit a doctor for diagnosis, AI will be much faster and much more accurate. Comparison of our personal health longitudinal record with the collected human database will give much more accurate diagnosis and prediction than is possible today. 

This vision is one of the reasons I noted in an email a few days ago that healthcare will generate the biggest of big data, and why we need blockchain technology to secure it. 

Eoin Treacy's view

Thank you for this interesting article highlighting the success of a Chinese team in improving the conductivity of silk. Wearable technology is advancing in leaps and bounds so within the decade it is entirely possible that we have 24/7 monitoring of our vital signs available from a host of different products.

In addition the number of metrics examined will also increase as our collective understanding of body chemistry and interactions improves. In fact as the quantity of data and the number of metrics that need to be assessed, both in isolation and in unison, increases it will be impossible for any human to keep track of it all, so artificial intelligence will be a necessity rather than a luxury.

Profusa just went through a second round of funding for its tissue integrated sensors and recently received the CE mark so it can start marketing in the EU. I was sitting next to the FDA delegate at the ExMed conference and asked why it was permissioned for the EU and not the USA. He said it was simply down to a difference in how the two organisations describe medical devices but did not anticipate it would take very long for the company to get US approval. 

The demo was quiet compelling, with a cyclist on stage and her vital signs, specifically oxygenation levels, graphing on the screen while the CEO, Ben Hwang made his presentation. He explained that the nano-sensors last about a year once inserted into the body and relay information using light to the lumee device above it on a regular basis 24/7. 

Of course Profusa is not the only company with such sensors but it reflects the exponential pace of technological innovation. It is now believed that the medical device product cycle which had previously been 10 years is now down to 3 years. That means we can expect the speed with which new products appear in our hospitals to accelerate as well.