Samsung Galaxy S10, Samsung Galaxy X… now a Samsung Galaxy Shirt to take on Apple Watch?

Apple isn't the only big brand with a healthy wearable. Samsung has a SmartShirt on the way that could help prevent lung disease

Samsung Galaxy SmartShirt
Duncan Bell
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Galaxy SmartShirt, anyone? On February 20, Samsung will unveil the Samsung S10 and the foldy, bendy Galaxy X, at its Samsung Unpacked event. Wearables-wise there'll probably be the Samsung Galaxy Watch. However, recent patent activity suggests the Korean brand might have something more interesting up its sleeve at a future Unpacked event.

A few weeks ago we had word of Galaxy SmartShoes which could track a range of running and fitness metrics whilst looking totally sick. Now, Samsung seems to be eyeing up the idea of a Galaxy SmartShirt with a much more serious purpose: preventing lung disease. It's essentially a very intelligent stethoscope, which you wear. Yes, that is pretty far out, you're right.

Via a combination of sensors and an app the Samsung Smart Shirt will monitor for symptoms of lung disease

Samsung has actually already developed a Smart Shirt, or more accurately a SmartSuit: speed skaters from the Dutch Winter Olympics team wore it to train for the 2018 Olympics.

With Apple Watch series 4, Apple made a big move towards turning its wearable into a health product as well as a fitness one.

But now, our friends lurking in the Patent Office, LetsGoDigital have spotted plans for something way more advanced than a mere electro cardiogram.

Last week, Samsung had a new patent published, entitled ‘Electronic apparatus and method of controlling the same’. This rather bland description refers to a Samsung SmartShirt with acoustic sensors able to diagnose your physical condition, in particular the condition of your lungs, by listening to them.

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Two possible 'looks' for the Samsung SmartShirt

The Samsung SmartShirt's various sensors 'listen' to your breathing and can diagnose potential health threats from the sounds your the lungs make.

Diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis can be identified by the distinctive sounds made by your infected lungs. Also, chronic lung diseases including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are recognised in the same way. 

The shirt and its app take into account your age – the patent image suggests there will be a SmartShirt for infants – gender, height and medical history. Sophisticated AI knows what ailments are suggested by a range of lung sounds, taken from various points along the rib cage and back. 

The app on your Galaxy S10 (or perhaps Galaxy S11 or Galaxy S12, realistically) presents a diagnosis, along with health advice. In a more dire situation, it could even call the emergency services for you.

Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.

Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. 

A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

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