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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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This Tiny Wearable Patch Could Warn You About Heart & Lung Problems Before Symptoms Start

A small, lightweight wearable device developed by engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) may soon change how we monitor heart and breathing health. This flexible sensor patch, designed to stick onto the chest or near arteries, could allow patients to track their vital signs continuously from home—potentially reducing hospital visits and helping doctors detect serious conditions earlier than ever before.

Published in Nature Communications, the proof-of-concept technology is called “AusculPatch.” It represents a major step toward bringing clinical-level monitoring out of hospitals and into everyday life.

A New Way to Listen to the Human Body

At its core, AusculPatch works like an advanced digital stethoscope—but one that never needs to be removed and can operate continuously.

Lead researcher Scientia Associate Professor Hoang-Phuong Phan explains the vision simply: the goal is to create a device that patients can use at home to monitor their heart and lungs without needing frequent clinic visits.

“What we have developed is a tiny wearable device that can attach onto the human chest and hear heart sound and respiration,” he says.

In traditional healthcare, doctors use a stethoscope to listen to internal body sounds. However, this requires in-person visits and only provides a short snapshot of a patient’s condition. AusculPatch aims to change that by offering continuous monitoring over hours, days, or even longer.

Why Continuous Monitoring Matters

Heart disease and chronic respiratory conditions remain among the leading causes of death worldwide. Yet, many patients are only assessed during brief medical appointments.

For people living in rural or remote areas, accessing healthcare regularly can be difficult. Even in cities, patients often delay visits until symptoms become serious.

Dr. Anthony Sunjaya, a UNSW medical doctor and co-author of the study, highlights the problem:

“When they go to a clinic, patients often only have a 15-minute window for assessment. The danger is that abnormalities may not be fully recognized during that short period of time.”

By the time patients seek care, diseases may already have progressed significantly, reducing treatment effectiveness and outcomes.

A continuous monitoring system could help solve this gap by detecting early warning signs before symptoms become severe.

How the AusculPatch Works

The device is extremely small and lightweight—about the size of a small bandage—measuring roughly 20 x 47 x 3 millimeters and weighing just 3.2 grams.

At its center is an ultra-thin silicon sensing element that captures subtle vibrations generated by the body.

According to PhD researcher Tran Bach Dang, the system works by detecting tiny mechanical movements traveling through the body:

“The heart sound propagates through the body fluid and tissue, generates an acoustic pressure that vibrates the sensing element.”

In simple terms, every heartbeat, breath, and pulse creates microscopic vibrations. AusculPatch picks up these signals directly from the skin.

Unlike regular microphones, which capture audible sound, this sensor is designed to detect extremely low-frequency vibrations that are normally difficult to measure outside clinical equipment.

Built to Work in Real-World Conditions

One of the biggest challenges in wearable health devices is noise interference from the environment. Everyday sounds like talking, traffic, or movement can easily distort medical signals.

To solve this, the UNSW team designed the sensor to focus mainly on vibrations coming from the body itself while reducing external noise.

“The sensor element is designed to shield the sound coming from one direction, typically from the human body,” says Dang.

Testing showed that the patch could still accurately record heart and breathing signals even when participants were talking or exposed to simulated background noise. This makes it far more practical for real-life use compared to many existing wearable sensors.

More Than Just a Fitness Tracker

While smartwatches and fitness bands can measure heart rate and oxygen levels, they do not directly capture internal mechanical activity of the heart and lungs.

AusculPatch goes deeper.

It records:

  • Heart sounds

  • Breathing patterns

  • Blood flow vibrations

  • Pulse wave signals

In early tests, the device showed strong agreement with clinical tools such as ECG machines, ultrasound scans, blood pressure monitors, and digital stethoscopes.

Researchers also tested the patch during everyday activities like walking, eating, working, and climbing stairs. The device successfully recorded continuous physiological data throughout these normal routines.

AI: Turning Data into Early Warnings

One of the most powerful future applications of AusculPatch lies in artificial intelligence.

Because the device collects large amounts of continuous health data, machine learning systems could analyze patterns over time and detect early signs of illness.

Dr. Chi Cong Nguyen, another lead researcher, explains:

“We can potentially apply machine learning to identify abnormal signals and warn the patients, and also notify their doctor.”

This means the system could eventually alert users before symptoms become noticeable—potentially preventing emergency hospital visits.

For example, small changes in breathing patterns or heart vibrations might indicate worsening heart failure or developing respiratory disease.

New Possibilities Beyond Medicine

Interestingly, the technology is not limited to heart and lung monitoring.

In early experiments, the device was able to detect vibrations from vocal cords in the throat. Researchers even used machine learning to recognize spoken words and control a robotic arm.

While still at a very early stage, this suggests potential applications for:

  • People with speech impairments

  • Individuals with paralysis or physical disabilities

  • Hands-free device control systems

These possibilities show how a simple sensing patch could expand into broader human–machine interaction tools in the future.

From Lab to Hospitals: What Comes Next

The UNSW research team, which includes experts such as Associate Professor Thanh Nho Do, Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell, and Professor Tracie Barber, is now preparing for larger clinical trials.

Plans include:

  • Testing on around 200 patients in the near term

  • Expanding to 1,000 patients in later studies

  • Focusing on individuals with heart valve disease or implanted heart devices

These studies will help refine the technology and improve its AI-based diagnostic capabilities.

However, full regulatory approval for medical use will still take time. Researchers estimate that clinical deployment could take four to five years.

Consumer wellness versions, however, may become available sooner than medical-grade devices.

A Step Toward the Future of Healthcare

The development of AusculPatch reflects a broader shift in modern medicine—from occasional hospital check-ups to continuous, real-time health monitoring.

If successful, this technology could:

  • Reduce hospital visits

  • Help detect diseases earlier

  • Improve care for remote and rural patients

  • Support long-term chronic disease management

  • Enable more personalized healthcare

Most importantly, it brings medical monitoring closer to where people actually live their daily lives.

Instead of relying on brief clinic visits, doctors may soon have access to continuous streams of real-world data—allowing them to understand patient health in far greater detail.

Conclusion

The UNSW wearable patch is still in development, but its potential is already clear. By combining ultra-sensitive sensors with artificial intelligence, it could transform how heart and respiratory diseases are detected and managed.

What once required hospital equipment might soon be possible with a tiny sticker-like device worn at home. And if the technology reaches its full potential, it could mark a major shift toward earlier diagnosis, better prevention, and more accessible healthcare for millions of people worldwide.

Reference: Dang, T.B., Nguyen, C.C., Heo, S.Y. et al. Wearable, broadband auscultation patch with cantilever pressure transducer for remote healthcare monitoring. Nat Commun 17, 4918 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73636-6

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