‘Smart socks’ help protect people with dementia by tracking stress levels

The socks can track patients’ stress levels, heart rate and motion, reports Aisha Rimi

Dr Zeke Steer developed the technology for the socks after witnessing his great-grandmother become anxious and aggressive as a result of her dementia (Milbotix)

A PhD student has invented “smart socks” to help protect dementia patients by tracking heart rates, sweat levels and motion to sense if they are in distress before alerting their carers.

Dr Zeke Steer of Bristol University developed the technology after witnessing his great-grandmother become anxious and aggressive as a result of her dementia.

The innovation looks and feels like normal socks, and transmits real-time data to the app so carers can easily see if there is an increase in their patient’s stress levels.