At first look, the trousers look abnormal — till you see what’s inside.
The trousers function a waistband that has an airbag and sensors inbuilt — know-how designed to guard the individual carrying them from a fall.
“The fundamental premise is that in these trousers … have electronics that analyze motion in actual time,” mentioned Maxime Bolduc, co-founder and CEO of Azimut Medical.
“In the event you fall, we now have a membrane that inflates, in order that whenever you hit the bottom, you may have safety throughout the pelvic space.”
The sensible trousers have been developed by Montreal startup Azimut Medical. However the concept didn’t begin in a lab.
Get day by day Nationwide information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
“My grandmother fell and broke her hip at house. She stayed on the bottom for 5 hours and it shocked us,” mentioned Bolduc.
“She went via restoration, rehabilitation, and when she got here again house, we realized she’s gonna fall once more, that’s for positive, so we began in search of merchandise that may shield her.”
That was again in 2019 whereas Bolduc was ending his mechanical engineering diploma.
In 2021, he began engaged on the know-how, which is now being examined in medical trials in Quebec and Ontario.
Medical consultants say the potential influence may very well be important.
In truth, Dr. Stéphane Lemire, a geriatrician, says the know-how may very well be a game-changer — particularly if it’s adopted in establishments like hospitals and long-term care houses.
“In Canada, falls are answerable for roughly $5 or $6 billion of well being care expenditures,” mentioned Lemire. “And primarily it’s as a result of folks injure themselves and want well being look after that.”
The following step is for the corporate to lift extra funds and produce the product to market later this 12 months.
The hope is to finally combine the know-how into completely different types of clothes.
However for the person behind the concept, the underside line is to assist folks, like his grandmother, who’s now 101 years outdated.
“I truly examined a few completely different clothes together with her. And her suggestions was instrumental. She was fairly essential of the garment at first. And so we moved numerous the iterations together with her suggestions and it made for a significantly better product,” mentioned Bolduc.
© 2026 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
