Apr 9, 2010

Electronic Undies

True - The rollout of the world's first electronic underpants has been announced in Australia. They are designed for the elderly and infirm and will be used in aged care homes across New South Wales to monitor incontinence.

"We developed the system to provide greater comfort and dignity to the elderly while aiming to significantly lower costs for aged care facilities." The company said its underpants have a disposable element, similar to a regular incontinence pad, and include a detachable transmitter that relays readings from the pad's sensor strip over a wireless network to a central computer via text message or over the institution's paging system.

More than 90 per cent of Australians living in elderly care facilities are believed to suffer from incontinence - a problem that currently requires staff to carry out frequent manual checks throughout the day.