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| Issue date:08/04/2010 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Apr 2010 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
| by Sanjay Gupta |
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| Smart garments made with electronic textiles, a relatively novel area of research within the apparel industry is showing enormous potential within the healthcare industry |
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| Wearable items are being equipped with sensors for body monitoring |
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The e-textiles sector has evolved rapidly over the last decade, from a flurry of research and patent applications in the late 1990s, to the start-ups, new supply chains and commercial products appearing during the last five years.
Earliest systems were where electronics were attached to the textile through external elements (e.g. pockets and pouches) and remained rigid and enclosed. Cables and soft switches were sewn into the clothing as were the hard electronic components such as batteries and LEDs which were either removable for washing or were encapsulated. These were replaced by what are now called hybrid systems, where electronics are permanently attached to the textile through a closer coupling, such as embroidered patches or woven connections and becoming thereby flexible and washable. In emergence is complete integration of electronic functions with the clothing or textiles themselves, including those providing active functions such as sensing, actuating and processing. In future there would be no electronics and textiles - only electronic textiles. 
Wearable items are being equipped with sensors for body monitoring |
The next phase of evolution is likely to be a period of collaboration, consolidation and partnering, accompanying further innovations and market growth.
The estimates are encouraging. US market for smart textiles was worth an estimated US$70.9 million in 2006 and is expected to reach US$391.7 million in 2012, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.9%. Europeans estimate their market to be worth over 300 million euros today and current growth rates are in the range of about 20% a year. The key to market expansion would be the ability to mass market these products which in turn would require making wearable technology easy to integrate for garment manufacturers, bundling technology systems that can be installed using existing processes and purchased in the same way as any other trim item (e.g. zips, buttons etc) and in keeping the component cost to garment cost ratio low. A target cost being talked about is US$15 worth of total "add-in" wearable electronic components.
Interested consumer electronics companies can partner clothing companies with their product ranges to make wearable technology multi-functional, easy to use, and easy to customize by consumers. Design would have to be considered from the concept stage as a key element in product development and not as an afterthought to overcome technical challenges.
A wide range of small businesses, entrepreneurs, university spin-offs, global brands and research institutes are driving the innovations in healthcare sector providing a combination of commercially available e-textile parts and sector expertise to help industry create bespoke products for health care. In fact, bio-monitoring applications appear to be the main driver behind total integration of e-textiles. The smart sensor systems and new approaches to analyzing and interpreting data, together with cost-effective telemetric approaches can fundamentally change the interface between the patient and health care provider. These products have the potential to substantially change the provision of health and health care services for large population groups, particularly those suffering from chronic diseases (including cardiovascular, diabetes, respiratory and neurological disorders) and the elderly with specific needs. Doctors will be able to remotely monitor a patient's (like a new born baby's) health statistics and condition. Every hospital patient could be just wearing a singlet that would monitor his/her stats and send them remotely to a nurse in a central office.
This is likely to reduce expenditure on managing ageing population, improve care, reduce medical errors and support real time professional consultation. Research is also focusing on such smartness built in clothing for the normal wear which would be easy to wear, elegant and lightweight.
Taking care of your heart
The integration of sensors for body monitoring is a growing field in healthcare. New Zealand's Zephyr Technology secured an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement to supply smart fabric-based sensors, electronics, BioSense algorithms and other heart rate monitoring (HRM) products to Sigma Sport of Germany for the latter's Comfortex range of heart rate monitors. These products are comfortable to wear and communicate easily through web-, phone- and watch-based applications.
US-based Textronics, meanwhile, has recently been awarded a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for its textile-based electrode system, covering stretch-textile electrodes that are incorporated into the chest band area of garments to comfortably monitor the wearer's heart rate, electrocardiogram (ECG) or other electrical activity of the body. The conductive fabric moves comfortably with the body, picking up the heart's electrical pulse and sending it to a compatible monitor via a tiny transmitter that is snapped into a pocket on the garment. Textronics has commercialized this invention in its NuMetrex line of heart rate monitoring apparel. Textronics has also recently received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market its textile-based ECG electrode for use in extended wear, general monitoring and recording procedures.
California-based VivoMetrics acquired patents for wearable sensors that monitor respiration and cardiac function since 1999.
The sensors were adapted for ambulatory use and crafted into a lightweight, machine-washable garment, LifeShirt System, that functions as a non-invasive monitoring system that continuously collects records and analyses a broad range of cardiopulmonary information. Integrated peripheral devices additionally measure parameters such as blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, electroencephalography (EEG)/EOG, periodic leg movement, temperature, end tidal carbon dioxide (CO2) and cough, to provide a real-time view of the wearer's physiological status. A similar product, totally textile based, called SmartLife HealthVest is being offered by SmartLife Technologies which also monitors, records and transmits data in real time via Bluetooth to a remote computer, PDA, or even a cell phone which in turn can alert medical personnel if necessary.
These garments represents a paradigm shift from traditional high cost patient monitoring in hospitals to affordable, unobtrusive, remote and personalized monitoring at home or on the go.
Microsoft Research Corporation has also developed a real-time wearable system for monitoring and analyzing physiological signals called HealthGear. It consists of a set of non-invasive physiological sensors wirelessly connected via Bluetooth to a cell phone, which stores, transmits and analyzes the physiological data, and presents it to the user in an intelligible way.
Microsoft claims that the functionalities of their system are faster and better as all the processing of data is done on the mobile phone. The system uses open architecture components and off the shelf pulse oximeter type sensors.
The smart textiles and intelligent fabrics (SFIT) research cluster formed by EU is also running many European projects involving a consortium of companies from different fields to research new types of smart fabric for healthcare. These projects are interestingly named Wealthy, MyHeart, Proetex and Biotex.
Wearable health monitoring system provides a number of value-added functions to a wearer |
Wealthy, or Wearable Health Monitoring System, consists of a normal flexible garment, capable of monitoring health of the user. The prototype developed is fitted with integrated temperature sensors with ±0.5℃ sensitivity and heart rate monitoring sensors. Abdomen and arms are fitted with piezo-resistive sensors for detection of body movement. A small portable electronic device transmits data in quasi real-time over a GPRS link to the remote medical centre that interprets the data received and represents it in simple, graphical form.
Biocloth is a research project for Ambulatory Telemonitoring, using biosensors and bio-actuators woven into the fabric, and funded by the French Ministry of Research and new Technologies. The first prototype incorporates four smooth dry EKG electrodes, a shock/fall sensor, a breath rate sensor, two temperature sensors and a GPS receiver. The main focus is on integration of the biosensor in the textiles so that generic clothing developed is comfortable, resistant and washable.
MyHeart developments use circular and flat bed knitting technologies for sensors that monitor the heart continuously. Proetex, or Protection e-Textiles, is targeted at needs of rescue workers like fire fighters and is developing a system to monitor the wearers and their outside environment.
Monitoring sudden collapse
Application against specific medical requirements has also been developed. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the sudden and unexpected death of young baby without any specific cause is often attributed to breathing failure. Reasons for this failure are not known but possible causes could include suffocation, overheating and choking. Mamagoose SIDS Monitor consists of a normal washable textile pajama with built-in sensors to track a baby's heart rate and breathing patterns plus an electronic signal processing and data collection unit to sound an alarm in case of a failure. The device uses a technology developed by the European Space Agency to monitor the health of adult women and men in orbit.
There are pressure/displacement sensors specifically designed for installation beneath the mattress on a bed in a home, nursing home or extended care facility for measuring patient motion and agitation and in a completely unobtrusive way.
Kinotex, the sensor, is fabricated from common polymer foam material such as silicone or urethane. Deformation of the foam generates a change in optical properties proportional to the extent of deformation and a simple optical transducer sense and records the change. Another application produces a pressure image of the patient, and can identify posture, activity, and increasing pressure between the mattress and the patient. This information is used to assess the bedridden patient's risk of developing decubitus ulcers.
Under development are smart bandages with embedded biosensors to detect for the presence of bacteria.
Porous silicon material, formed from etching millions of tiny holes into a silicon wafer, is treated with a liquid that contains probe molecules engineered to bind to fat molecules found on the surface of specific bacteria. Porous provides a large surface area for contact with target molecules. Nano-crystals present in the structure are photo luminescent in the visible range of the spectrum at room temperature. When the bandage is placed over an infected area, bacteria from the wound move into the porous silicon and attach themselves to the probe molecules, altering the optical properties of the silicon. The change in optical properties is detected by using handheld laser device.
Corey Menscher, a researcher in the US, made a device called the Kickbee to notify him when his unborn baby kicked inside the womb of the mother. The device consists of sensors attached to a stretchable band worn by a pregnant mother over her stomach. A micro-controller in the band captures the movement of the baby kicking, and transmits the signals wirelessly to an application, which in turn broadcasts short messages of "I kicked Mommy!" on Twitter, which can be shared with family and friends.
Application of smart textiles in healthcare is the next frontier for convergence of a whole range of technologies. The pace at which new developments are progressing will soon see these products on the shelves of your neighborhood super store within the buying range of general consumers.
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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