AT ROYAL Ascot it can be hard to see the horses for the hats. Still, during this annual horse-racing event in the UK 鈥� which took place last week 鈥� the world鈥檚 top thoroughbreds and riders compete for a prize pot that this year totalled more than 拢6.5 million.

It鈥檚 a dangerous sport. More than 150 of the UK鈥檚 14,000 racehorses are killed each year and thousands more are injured. Many deaths are due to overexertion or fractures that result in a horse being put down. A device that monitors a horse鈥檚 well-being during a race could help reduce fatalities.

The Equim猫tre, made by start-up Arioneo in Paris, France, fits into the girth 鈥� a strap around a horse鈥檚 middle that keeps the saddle on 鈥� and records data such as heart and respiratory rate, plus acceleration and speed. It also monitors conditions such as humidity. The Equim猫tre then compares the stats with past performances.

鈥淭his tool will give trainers information they don鈥檛 have today,鈥� says Arioneo co-founder Valentin Rapin. 鈥淚t can prevent overtraining.鈥� The device could also catch common injuries such as inflamed shins, which can cause stress fractures. 鈥淭he early detection of problems can only improve diagnosis,鈥� says Herv茅 Moreau, a horse vet based in La Fert茅-Saint-Cyr, France.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淲earable tech for racehorses can prevent injuries鈥�

At Royal Ascot it can be hard to see the horses for the hats. But during this annual five-day horse-racing event in Berkshire, UK 鈥� which is taking place this week 鈥� the world鈥檚 top thoroughbreds and jockeys compete across multiple races for a prize pot that this year totals more than 拢6.5 million.

It鈥檚 a dangerous sport, however. More than 150 of the UK鈥檚 14,000 or so racehorses are killed each year and thousands more are injured. In the US, around 500 are killed a year. A wearable device that monitors a horse鈥檚 physical well-being during a race could help.

Major horse-racing events attract animal-rights campaigners. TV presenter and conservationist . Streamers of red roses cascaded to the ground to signify horses鈥� deaths at the races.

Info on the hoof

Many of these deaths are due to over-exertion during a race or fractures that result in a horse being put down. The new device, called the Equim猫tre and developed by start-up Arioneo in Paris, France, is designed to reduce the number of fatalities and prevent injury as well as help trainers to hone a horse鈥檚 performance.

The Equim猫tre鈥檚 sensor fits into the girth 鈥� a strap around a horse鈥檚 middle that keeps the saddle on. This records physiological data such as temperature and heart and respiratory rate 鈥� plus information about the animal鈥檚 movement such as acceleration and speed. The device also monitors environmental conditions, such as humidity. A trainer can view the data in real time via an app.

There are existing smart devices for racehorses that capture this kind of data. But the Equim猫tre then runs the stats through algorithms that compare them with past performances.

鈥淎 trainer鈥檚 eye is very important and we do not want to replace their expertise,鈥� says Arioneo co-founder Valentin Rapin, 鈥渂ut this tool will give trainers information they don鈥檛 have today.鈥�

No neigh-sayers

Rather than just showing an increase in heart rate, for example, the device can put this into context and tell the trainer what it means for that particular horse in those particular conditions. 鈥淚t can prevent overtraining,鈥� says Rapin.

Rapin thinks the device will also help catch injuries such as bucked shins, where the tissue covering the shin bone becomes painfully inflamed. Around 70 per cent of young thoroughbred racehorses suffer from the condition and it can lead to more serious problems, such as stress fractures, which often result in a horse being killed. Rapin and his colleagues plan to launch the Equim猫tre in early 2017.

, a horse vet based in La Fert茅-Saint-Cyr, France, welcomes the device. 鈥淭he early detection of locomotion problems can only improve diagnosis,鈥� he says. 鈥淪imilarly, optimising the training programme will reduce the risk of stress fractures.鈥�

A shirt and cap that can diagnose epilepsy quickly and easily has been approved for use by European health services, including the UK鈥檚 NHS.

Epileptic seizures are the result of excessive electrical discharges in the brain. The World Health Organization estimates that over 50 million people worldwide have the condition, including 6 million in Europe, making it one of the world鈥檚 most common serious neurological conditions.

Brain implants and apps have been developed to warn of oncoming seizures. But to diagnose the condition, someone must typically have a seizure recorded by an EEG machine in a hospital 鈥� with sensors and wires attached to the scalp.

鈥淎n EEG reading is at the heart of a reliable diagnosis,鈥� says Fran莽oise Thomas-Vialettes, president of French epilepsy society EFAPPE. But seizures rarely coincide with hospital appointments. 鈥淭he diagnosis can take several years and is often imprecise.鈥�

Seizures are so difficult to record that 30 per cent of people with epilepsy in Europe are misdiagnosed. In developing countries that lack medical equipment and healthcare the situation is even worse.

To make diagnosis easier, French start-up BioSerenity has developed a smart outfit called the Neuronaute that monitors people as they go about their day. The shirt and cap are embedded with biometric sensors that record the electrical activity of the wearer鈥檚 brain, heart and muscles. If a seizure occurs, the outfit can send an EEG recording of the brain to doctors via a smartphone.

Epilepsy trigger

The outfit also records the wearer鈥檚 movements using an accelerometer, gyroscope and compass. This provides information about what activities trigger someone鈥檚 seizures.

Wearing the outfit at home lets patients and doctors gather precise readings over long periods of time. The outfit has recently successfully completed a six-month trial at the Brain and Spine Institute at the Piti茅-Salp锚tri猫re Hospital in Paris.

On 16 May, BioSerenity announced that the outfit had received regulatory approval for use in hospitals in the UK and across Europe. This means that NHS hospitals will now be free to diagnose people using the Neuronaute if they wish. At least two hospitals in France 鈥� the Centre Hospitalier R茅gional Universitaire de Lille and the Hospices Civils in Lyon 鈥� are already set to try out the outfit in July and August.听鈥淭he device looks promising,鈥� says Louis Vall茅e, a听neuropaediatrician听at the Lille听hospital. 鈥淲e are听considering whether it would benefit our young patients.鈥�

Thomas-Vialettes thinks that the Neuronaute will be particularly good for children. With existing diagnosis, children must spend 24 or 48 hours hooked up to an EEG machine during which there may be no seizure, she says.

Hala Nasser, BioSerenity鈥檚 chief medical officer and a paediatrician specialising in child neurology at the Robert-Debr茅 paediatric hospital in Paris, says that the team had children in mind when designing the outfit.

Long-term recording outside of a hospital could lead to faster, more accurate and cheaper diagnoses, says BioSerenity CEO Pierre-Yves Frouin. He also hopes that applying machine learning techniques to anonymised data collected from many people with epilepsy will lead to new algorithms and biomarkers that will improve diagnoses even more. Clinical trials for these techniques are planned for 2017.

The smart outfit could also help in developing countries. 鈥淚n Africa, for example, there is a high rate of epilepsy and a lack of neurologists and equipment,鈥� says Frouin. 鈥淣ow we have a system that is cheap and easy to use by local nurses 鈥� and the results can be analysed remotely.鈥�

Bacteria may light up the future. , a start-up company based in Paris, France, is developing bioluminescent lights to illuminate shop fronts and street signs.

After a successful demo in December, Glowee has launched its first product 鈥� a bacteria-powered light that glows for three days. The company is now working on lights that will glow for a month or more.

鈥淥ur goal is to change the way we produce and use light,鈥� says Glowee founder Sandra Rey. 鈥淲e want to offer a global solution that will reduce the 19 per cent of electricity consumption used to produce light.鈥�

The lights are made by filling small transparent cases with a gel that contains bioluminescent bacteria. Glowee uses a bacterium called Aliivibrio fischeri, which gives marine animals such as the Hawaiian bobtail squid the ability to glow with a blue-green light. The gel provides nutrients that keep the bacteria alive.

At first, the lights only worked for a few seconds. But by tweaking the consistency of the gel so it delivers nutrients more efficiently, the team has been able to extend their lifespan to three days.

Bioluminescent lights are not new. But Glowee is one of the first companies to develop a commercial product, which is initially being marketed to shops. In France, retailers are not allowed to light their shop windows between 1 am and 7 am to limit light pollution and energy consumption. The softly glowing bacterial lights 鈥� about as bright as night lights 鈥� provide a way to get around the ban.

Glowee wants to use them for other purposes too, including decorative lighting, building exteriors and street signs 鈥� as well as providing lighting in places with no power cables, such as parks.

ERDF, a largely state-owned utility company that manages 95 per cent of France鈥檚 electricity network, is among the backers of Glowee鈥檚 recent crowdfunding campaign. 鈥淕lowee is not meant to replace electric light; it offers different possibilities,鈥� says Rey.

The business case

But how feasible is the idea in the long run? Edith Widder at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association in Fort Pierce, Florida, thinks that the costs of producing and maintaining large numbers of bioluminescent bacteria in suitable environmental conditions are too high for most commercial lighting needs.

To get the bacteria to continue working for more than a few days requires adding extra nutrients and removing waste products, she says. 鈥淚f you do the math, it doesn鈥檛 make sense, especially when you factor in how incredibly efficient LED lighting has become.鈥�

But Glowee is undeterred. Having adjusted the make-up of its gel, it is now genetically engineering the bacteria. Rey says her team is developing a molecular switch that will activate the bioluminescence only at night. This will let the bacteria save energy during the day and make the nutrients last longer.

The team also plans to make the bacteria glow brighter and survive temperature fluctuations of up to 20 掳C. Rey says the company will launch a commercial product in 2017 that lasts a month.

Solutions exist in nature, says Rey. 鈥淣ow that we have the tools to copy them, we can build far more sustainable processes and products.鈥�