Design and Evaluation of Novel Textile Wearable Systems for the Surveillance of Vital Signals.

Isabel Trindade,Bruno Valentim,Rui Miguel,Madalena Pereira,Luís Oliveira,Jorge Barreto,José Machado Da Silva,José Lucas,Manuel Santos Silva

doi:10.3390/s16101573

Abstract

This article addresses the design, development, and evaluation of T-shirt prototypes that embed novel textile sensors for the capture of cardio and respiratory signals. The sensors are connected through textile interconnects to either an embedded custom-designed data acquisition and transmission unit or to snap fastener terminals for connection to external monitoring devices. The performance of the T-shirt prototype is evaluated in terms of signal-to-noise ratio amplitude and signal interference caused by baseline wander and motion artefacts, through laboratory tests with subjects in standing and walking conditions. Performance tests were also conducted in a hospital environment using a T-shirt prototype connected to a commercial three-channel Holter monitoring device. The textile sensors and interconnects were realized with the assistance of an industrial six-needle digital embroidery tool and their resistance to wear addressed with normalized tests of laundering and abrasion. The performance of these wearable systems is discussed, and pathways and methods for their optimization are highlighted.

Highlights

Recent progress in mobile and wearable technologies enabled by low-power electronics, new signal processing techniques [1] and, in general, the information and communication technologies (ICT) ecosystem, open possibilities for a new paradigm in medicine and healthcare
The rest of the article is organized as follows: in Section 2 we describe the design and materials of the T-shirt systems and the experimental methods used to evaluate their performance in laboratory and hospital settings, and to address their resistance to wear; in Section 3 we present the custom data acquisition and transmission (DAT)
In all experiments with the T-shirt prototypes, the embroidery electrodes were moist with prior to the subject’s wearing the systems, in order to expedite the beginning of the data acquisition alcohol prior to the subject’s wearing the systems, in order to expedite the beginning of the data and to assure identical initial conditions in all tests

Summary

Introduction

Recent progress in mobile and wearable technologies enabled by low-power electronics, new signal processing techniques [1] and, in general, the information and communication technologies (ICT) ecosystem, open possibilities for a new paradigm in medicine and healthcare. Wearable textile technologies have been further considered to prevent illness and promote wellbeing and active aging, for an effective reduction of physical and mental decline with age, and a sustainable healthcare system [10]. These goals can be achieved within the strategies defined for mobile and personalized health (mHealth and pHealth), with several challenges to be addressed, such as the energy autonomy of portable electronics [1,11], specific design aspects of the wearables, regarding comfort, perception, and interface to the users, the captured data quality, as well as data privacy and security [10].

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion