Abstract
E-textiles is a new hybrid field developed with the help of the integration of electronic components into our daily usage of textile products. These wearable e-textiles provide user-defined applications as well as normal textile clothing. The medical field is one of the major leading areas where these new hybrid products are being implemented, and relatively mature products can be observed in the laboratory as well as in commercial markets. These products are developed for continuous patient monitoring in large-scale hospital centers as well as for customized patient requirements. Meanwhile, these products are also being used for complex medical treatments and the replacement of conventional methods. This review manuscript contains a basic overview of e-textile systems, their components, applications, and usages in the field of medical innovations. E-textile systems, integrated into customized products for medical needs, are discussed with their proposed properties and limitations. Finally, some recommendations to enhance the e-textile system’s integration into the medical field are argued.
Highlights
Modernization and digitalization are enhancing human life expectancy as we have better resources to fight diseases and to detect them at their early stages
In most cases, knitted textile-based systems are preferred as they increase the pain threshold and reduce the muscular tension on the applied area
In another example [54] (Figure 9b), a multilayer piezoresistive textile-based principle was developed for compression therapy treatments on human subjects
Summary
Modernization and digitalization are enhancing human life expectancy as we have better resources to fight diseases and to detect them at their early stages. In the current era of competition and the desire to attract more customers, the integration of multiple user-defined requirements into the conventional textile is often indispensable [10]. These concepts started in the medical industry, where the integrated sensors in undergarments were used to investigate different diseases. These components can include sensors, actuators, antennas, processing units, energy storage, production and harvesting, and power transmitting devices [14,15] These advanced wearable textiles are usually named smart textiles, wearable electronics, e-textiles, smart clothing, textronics, etc. The existing challenges these healthcare systems are facing for their acceptance in the market are described, and a model approach to predict the washing reliability is discussed
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