Abstract
Textiles enhanced with thin-film flexible sensors are well-suited for unobtrusive monitoring of skin parameters due to the sensors’ high conformability. These sensors can be damaged if they are attached to the surface of the textile, also affecting the textiles’ aesthetics and feel. We investigate the effect of embedding flexible temperature sensors within textile yarns, which adds a layer of protection to the sensor. Industrial yarn manufacturing techniques including knit braiding, braiding, and double covering were utilised to identify an appropriate incorporation technique. The thermal time constants recorded by all three sensing yarns was <10 s. Simultaneously, effective sensitivity only decreased by a maximum of 14% compared to the uncovered sensor. This is due to the sensor being positioned within the yarn instead of being in direct contact with the measured surface. These sensor yarns were not affected by bending and produced repeatable measurements. The double covering method was observed to have the least impact on the sensors’ performance due to the yarn’s smaller dimensions. Finally, a sensing yarn was incorporated in an armband and used to measure changes in skin temperature. The demonstrated textile integration techniques for flexible sensors using industrial yarn manufacturing processes enable large-scale smart textile fabrication.
Highlights
Unobtrusive continuous monitoring of skin temperature plays an important role in many facets of medicine [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10] and sports [11,12,13]
Flexible resistance temperature detectors (RTD) were successfully integrated within textile yarns using three common yarn fabrication techniques, knit braiding, braiding, and double covering
The sensitivities of the RTDs remained linear after they were incorporated within the textile yarns
Summary
Unobtrusive continuous monitoring of skin temperature plays an important role in many facets of medicine [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10] and sports [11,12,13]. Temperature is used to monitor health in infants [7] and to detect thermal discomfort within a prosthetic socket [8,9,10]. In prosthetics, monitoring and predicting the residual limb skin temperature is regarded as important since the socket of the prosthesis creates a warm and humid microenvironment that encourages growth of bacteria which lead to skin breakdown [8,9,10]. Localised skin temperature monitoring, utilising sensors that remain concealed within everyday textile garments, could greatly benefit patients. Sensors 2020, 20, 73 and healthcare personnel This can be achieved by embedding temperature sensors within textile yarns. The temperature sensor fabrics can be produced using conventional textile equipment. Numerous flexible temperature sensors are available in the market, most of these sensors have not been integrated in a concealed manner
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