Samsung might make a smart shirt that can detect lung problems

While many people are eagerly awaiting the Galaxy S10, Samsung has a lot of other products in the works, as well as patents which might point to future devices, one of which might be a smart t-shirt that can monitor your lung activity.

Spotted by LetsGoDigital, the patent describes a t-shirt that could constantly monitor your lung activity based on the sounds they make, and then send the data – along with relevant advice – to a smartphone app.

It would theoretically be able to detect various conditions, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, as well as alerting you if, for example, you were likely to have an asthma attack soon. As such it could be useful both for mild and serious breathing conditions, or as a way to rule out conditions.

Patents not products

It’s also easy to imagine that being able to monitor the lungs and breathing would be beneficial to athletes.

Of course, this is just a patent for now so we wouldn’t get our hopes up about being able to buy this any time soon, if ever, but it shows Samsung is at least considering the idea.

The company also has form in this area, having previously launched a smart skating suit for example and patented smart clothes that can charge your phone.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.