Fitesa, one of the world’s largest and most innovative nonwoven manufacturers, and LifeSavers, the producers of wipes that tell if you are unwell, have finalized an agreement for the co-development of high-performance nonwovens capable of detecting irregular health markers.

The two companies are collaborating to incorporate LifeSavers’ award-winning technology into Fitesa’s substrates, resulting in materials that would change color when in contact with abnormal indicators in body fluids such as urine.

LifeSavers is a Jamaican company recently awarded the prestigious IDEA Short-Life Product Achievement Award for a line of wipes that signal abnormal glucose levels in the urine (a predictor of diabetes). According to Georgia Crawford, LifeSavers’ team leader, “The collaboration with Fitesa is an opportunity to save lives by extending our innovative detection approach to a wider range of personal care products and health complications.”

“We are excited to collaborate with such an innovative start-up. This work has the potential to disrupt the hygiene market and deliver very tangible benefits for the consumers,” remarks Rene Ruschel, Fitesa’s VP of Technology and Engineering.

Fitesa and LifeSavers innovation teams have already started working on the development of the new line of enhanced nonwovens. The expected date for market release has not yet been announced.