With smartphones becoming more feature-heavy, wearable accessories including smartwatches were soon introduced as tools to support adoption of tech on the go. In a world starting to take fitness seriously, smart bands to measure heart-rate, oxygen levels and number of calories burned, provided a shot in the arm for the evolving health-tech sector.

In the aftermath of a pandemic, top brands are launching new smartwatches or upgrading existing gadgets to help people stay up to speed with their vital signs. But a European firm which is flaunting its medtech capabilities at the Arab Health event in Dubai, has stitched up a garment that can facilitate remote monitoring of patients, while ensuring their comfort.

The smart t-shirt designed by Chronolife, will track an individual's health through sensors, which will then relay information to data-hosting servers. The remote monitoring apparel has been designed to ensure that people can wear it around seamlessly, hence making it a viable long-term healthcare solution.

Sensors sewn into these shirts are programmed to collect updates based on six different parameters used to measure overall well being. Although it keeps an eye on a person's general fitness, the mechanism can also identify risks of serious ailments or emergencies, before sending out alerts to medical professionals.

Although the market for wearable healthcare gadgets is dominated by fitness bands and smartwatches so far, smart garments will be game changers, since customers hardly notice that they even carry sensors. The no frills approach will encourage people to adopt such t-shirts as an alternative to tiny oximeters or bracelets that they need to operate.

Wearables are gaining popularity in the Middle East's medtech ecosystem, with devices like a headgear that can cure migraines without medication, simply by stimulating the brain.

As for remote monitoring to aid telemedicine, sensors have been developed for monitoring the heart and other vital organs, through subtle vibrations created on the skin.