Are ‘smart clothes’ the next digital health breakthrough?

Bonbouton and, apparently, the New York City Economic Development Corporation think the next digital healthcare breakthrough could be in the form of “smart clothes.”

Bonbouton, based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s 1776NY incubator was chosen by the NYCEDC for its Digital Health Breakthrough Network. Bonbouton makes clothes laced with graphene, a super thin sheet of carbon which can be freakishly strong and conductive at freakishly thin widths. According to the company, their clothes will monitor “skin temperature, heart rate, sweating, and muscle motion.”

In aiding local startups, the NYCEDC hopes to improve healthcare in the region, and keep promising young companies here.

The network “helps startups design and conduct rapid pilot studies that gauge their products’ real-world impact and commercial potential. All four companies will receive support for research design, review board approvals, clinical partner and patient recruitment, and assessment,” according to the NYCEDC.

Congrats to @1776NY startup @Bonbouton, one of @NYCEDC's inaugural Digital Health Breakthrough Network companies: https://t.co/c7b0SpbHal

— Rachel Sterne Haot (@rachelhaot) April 11, 2017

Three other startups join Bonbouton in the health network. They are:

• Droice Labs, software that helps physicians predict how specific medications will perform in individual patients
• TruCircle, mobile and desktop applications that connect people in underserved communities with mental health resources and address barriers to treatment
• QuiO, injection devices and connected software to monitor medication injections administered by patients at home