Elitac Wearables – NeuroShirt

The NeuroShirt, developed from Elitac Wearables in collaboration with the University Medical Centre Utrecht (NL), is a patent-pending smart shirt that helps guide neurosurgeons during complicated skull-base surgeries.

It connects to the neuronavigation system and continuously indicates both the distance and direction of critical structures through haptic feedback (vibrations). ‘This way,’ the maker reports, ‘surgeons no longer have to split their focus between patient and screen. They can stay focused and operate more safely.

Elitac Wearables CEO and co-founder Merijn Klarenbeek explains, ‘We believe that wearable technology can play a major role in improving medical fields like rehabilitation, surgical assistance, patient mobility, etc. The benefits of haptic feedback and wearable sensors range from augmenting or even replacing impaired senses and reducing sensory overload to capturing real-time, accurate data.

‘Until quite recently, the practical implementation of wearable technology was held back due to issues such as washability and wearability. But by combining new technological advances (miniaturisation, smart textiles, stretchable electronics, etc.) with our extensive experience developing wearables, we can utilise this new technology to its maximum benefit. For example, with our NeuroShirt, we have demonstrated that haptic feedback can be intuitive, precise and distinct enough to complement complex brain surgeries.’