TECHNICAL TEXTILES IN

HEALTHCARE-RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS
ASSIGNMENT-2

Aneesha Panda
BFT/19/293
Smart textiles:

Textile industry is one of the oldest industries in the world. Once its purpose was to make only
cloth but now a days its purpose is way bigger. New generation of textile industry is called
“Smart textile”. Smart textile means those fabrics which have technology woven in them. This
technology reacts according to the surrounding and provides data. Application of smart textiles
also driven by productivity enhancement and fashion and design purpose. Smart textile is an
important branch of technical textile.

Types of smart textile:

Application of smart textile is majorly divided into two important area. They are:

1. Aesthetic: Aesthetic smart textile mainly focuses in using technology for fashion and design
purpose. Application of smart textile technologies in this field are mainly used to enhance the
outlook of the consumer.

Color changing scarf by smart textile

2. Performance enhancing: Performance enhancing smart textile are used for monitoring
biological factor. Here engineer mainly focus on converting human factor in data with the help
of technology.

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Smart textile for healthcare
Smart textiles in medical and healthcare field:

There are various field are we can use smart textile. Such as:

1. Infant monitoring.
2. Healthcare monitoring.
3. Clinical trials.
4. Bio feedback.
5. Medical monitoring.
6. Disease monitoring.
7. Obstetrics monitoring.
8. Athletics monitoring.
9. Healthy lifestyle monitoring:
 Rehabilitation.
 Surgery
 Hygiene
 Drug release system.
 Therapy.
 Wellness.
Application of smart textile sensors:

Over the past few years integration of sensors in textile became a trend. Application of smart
textile sensors are very useful for the data collection. Which makes treatment easier and more
accurate. Generally working process is physical, biochemical and optical transducer which
convert this signal into readable data. Generally, there are four structural categories of sensors.

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 1. Fiber based– when a sensor is single earn is known as fiber based sensor.
2. Textile structured– when all compounds of transducer are made of textile
material.
3. Textile integrated– when textile act as a carrier.
4. Textile based– when textile is a non-sensitive but inseparable compound of a
transducer.
Some sensors and their application:

1. Temperature sensors: This sensor provide data of heat production and heat loss.
Temperature sensor in smart textile provide evaluation of temperature on skin surface and in
the near body.

2. Respiration rate sensors: The rate of taking oxygen and removing carbon-di-oxide from body
cell is known as respiration system. Its application is limited but it has important role for
telemetric monitoring during sleep monitoring and some respiratory disorder.

3. Kinematic analysis: Though smart textile is used for physiological analysis, but it can also do
kinematic analysis. It is very important for rehabilitation and skeleton position during therapy.

4. Humidity sensors: Humidity sensors are made for monitor sweat rate, moisture in wounds,
ulcer prevention etc.

5. pH sensor: pH is measured by acid-base homeostasis. This parameter is important for wound

healing process and sweat monitoring.

6. Pulse oximetry sensor: A technique which is used in study of biological tissue for estimation
of the arterial oxygen saturation is call pulse oximetry. Its clinical applications are intensive
care, emergency room, during anaesthesia.

7. Polyurethane sensor: Applying polyurethane paste on woven textile creates a smooth and

high energy inter surface layer to facilitate a conductive track a silver paste is painted on the
layer. It can also be applied on non-woven cloth to make a wearable health monitoring device.

8. Sensing harness: This sensor is used to monitoring thoracic movement and abdominal due to
breathing activity without corrupting signal or overlapping signal.

Medical implants made by smart textile:

1. Artificial knees.
2. Artificial eye lenses.
3. Artificial tendon.

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 4. Artificial skin.
5. Artificial heart.
6. Artificial kidneys and lungs.
7. Artificial hips.
8. Artificial heart valves.
9. Artificial vascular grafts.
10. Artificial ligaments.
11. Heart pacemaker.
12. Implantable cardioverter defibrillators.
13. Coronary stents. etc.

Types of Medical Wearables 

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Patient Gowns and Vests 

Sensors and electrodes can be embedded into a pati ent gown or vest to measure a

range of vital signs without the need for multi ple wired devices. These include
temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Data received from the gown  can be
sent to a computer, so physicians and nurses can view the measurements before
they even enter the room. Nuubo,  a Wearable Medical Device
company developed a garment-based ECG Monitoring System. This is a device in
the form of a vest that consists of embedded electrodes. These electrodes track
and assist the pati ent in cardiac rehab. The internal system is entered into the
physician’s computer to enter pati ent informati on before the pati ent leaves the
offi ce. Then, when it is ti me to compile a report at the end of rehabilitati on, the
MicroSD is extracted and downloaded into a computer for review.  

Everyday Apparel 

E-texti le/ Smart Texti le technology can be used to monitor and treat health
conditi ons outside the offi ce, as well. They can be  implemented as a layer inside t-
shirts, pants, and acti vewear to help monitor heart rate and blood pressure aft er  a
heart att ack and can regulate temperature in pati ents with dementi a. The great
thing about this applicati on is it removes the need for a pati ent to even step foot
in a doctor’s offi ce. Seeing as most physicians are moving to telehealth operati ons,
this could prove useful. Myant , whom we have menti oned on the blog a few ti mes
in the past, created a blood pressure monitoring shirt called SKIIN. The shirt is
washable and allows for 24/7 conti nuous monitoring and automati c data
tracking. Myant is currently working on biometric clothing that can provide remote
monitoring to pati ents with COVID-19.  

Caps and Gloves  

Sensors and antennas can be embedded into a fi tt ed cap that can provide insight
into brain functi on and assist in treati ng neurological conditi ons such as epilepsy.
It could also be used to help pati ents with sleep disorders (to observe brain waves
during sleep). Another item e-texti le technology can be used is in therapeuti c
gloves. One of the most exciti ng functi ons of this technology in gloves is for pain
management. Those with arthriti s can wear the glove to reduce pain through
electrical sti mulati on and compression.  Quanti c Nanotech released
the QNanotech  glove just last year, which can provide heat to joints, vibrati on to
alleviate pain, as well as straightening functi onality. This is the fi rst osteoarthriti s

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glove to make it to market and has received a Technology Innovator Award from CV
Magazine.

How They Can Transform Healthcare  

Time Saving  

As menti oned earlier, e-texti les/ smart texti les can be embedded into a pati ent
gown to help physicians measure temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure
before they even enter the room. This can decrease appointment ti me greatly,
speed up the diagnosis process, and can leave more ti me for pati ents to address
concerns. In additi on, this provides the physician and pati ent more ti me to
strategize an eff ecti ve treatment plan.   

Cost Cutting  

Medical wearables that uti lize e-texti le technologies can also reduce cost  for
hospitals, seeing as the use of these wearables could potenti ally eliminate the
need for expensive equipment. These wearable devices can also reduce cost for
pati ents, and they may not even need to enter the  offi ce once they have received
the device for at-home treatment.   

Improved Quality of Care 

Especially in the case of remote pati ent monitoring, medical wearables can
drasti cally improve overall quality of care. E-texti les embedded in the wearable
devices can be programmed to meet the specifi c needs of a pati ent, making for
more individualized treatment.  

Higher Comfort and Ease of Use  

E-texti les can provide wearables with a seamless layer of sensing, without bulky
components or wires. This not only makes for a more comfortable wearable device,
but one that is more user-friendly. The pati ent can go about their daily acti viti es
without having to worry about anything. All they need to do is put on the garment
and turn it on. The device handles the rest, and the physician records any
informati on obtained.  

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APPLICATIONS OF SMART TEXTILESIN HEALTHCARE- RECENT INNOVATIONS AND EXAMPLES

 A great deal of progress has been observed in the healthcare system in recent years,
and many lab-scale samples are available from research institutes. Some prototypes
have been launched in the market for customer scale, and some are in the process of
launching.
 The smart textile company “Kymira” has developed a prototype of a cardiac monitoring
t-shirt used to detect the risk of heart attack in athletes. It transmits the heart rhythms
to a mobile phone via Bluetooth; hence, an unusual rhythm that leads to sudden cardiac
arrest can be detected. However, these products are still not available in the market for
customers and their prices are not yet released.

 The Xiaomi Mijia cardiogram t-shirt has integrated ECG sensors to monitor the patient’s
physical state. These shirts have a joint lighting system that can create an alert in the
case of dangerous heart rate values by changing color according to the heart stroke
intensity. The resulting cardiogram can also be downloaded via Bluetooth. These smart
shirts are available on the market for only US $69. However, their major limitation is the
non-availability of machine washing.

 “HealthWatch” launched a 15-lead ECG-sensing shirt that allowed doctors and health
workers to track heart conditions remotely. It is prepared with specially designed
electrocardiogram sensors weaved into a synthetic or cotton t-shirt. These sensors can
read vital signs and then transmit them to a monitoring device through Bluetooth. The
manufacturer claims their product is suitable for the home machine washing process;
however, the product is still in a demo state and independent reviews are not available
in the market.

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 AiQ Smart Clothing prepared different variants, including vests, t-shirts, and sports bras,
with five types of electrode structures suitable for various applications. They can be
used for heart monitoring by fitness enthusiasts, as heart monitoring compression vests
for marathons and cycling, for elderly care units as 1–3 lead ECG monitoring vests
physically or remotely, and for cardiac rehabilitation and fitness. One advantage is their
recommendation for machine washing, which enhances their positive image with
customers. However, these products are only at the prototype stage and are still not
available for sale
 Rymarczyk proposed a system that records lung ventilation and cardiac function
through a wearable garment. Different algorithms and image analyzing techniques were
used to observe the changes during measurements. These models were used to
investigate the heart, lungs, and skin. The main idea was to enhance the tomographic
data collection speed with reliable algorithms.

 Wang prepared nanomesh organic electrochemical transistors for medical and fitness
sensing applications. They preferred the spray coating techniques to deposit the
PEDOT:PSS on the mesh structure. The nanomesh structure was successfully fabricated
to achieve the active electronic elements. The structures were developed as the active
on-skin electrodes for electrophysiological signal acquiring and were compatible with
existing electrophysiology recording equipment. The authors claimed to achieve

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 simultaneous local amplifications of ECG signals on human skin with a high signal-to-
noise ratio of 25.89 dB.

 Shahariar researched printed electronic material by the direct-write printing process on

different types of substrates for healthcare applications. They used three different types
of laminates, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nonwoven textiles,
thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), and nylon-PET nonwoven textiles. The durability of
these types of sensors was directly related to the ink–fiber microstructure attachment
and penetration into the surface.

 Mordon worked on light-emitting fabrics and their usage in vivo and vitro for
photodynamic treatments (PDT). They claimed uniform light-emission for the

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lightemitting fabric (LEF) devices designed for dermatology treatments. For in vitro
(CELLLEF) applications, these devices produced illumination of 96-well culture plates.

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Challenges for Healthcare E-Textiles

 Washability and reliability are the major issues facing wearable textiles nowadays.
Various prototypes, are available on the market, and they are quote successful in

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 meeting the user requirements. However, these products are lacking in terms of
washability and wash reliability. Wash reliability depends on the proper functioning of
the complete e-textile system after the predefined number of wash cycles.
 Different standards are available for textile wash protocols; however, they cannot work
for e-textile products. Special precautions should be adopted for electronic textile
washability. Unfortunately, there is not much work focused on the reliability issues of
healthcare wearable e-textile systems, and for this reason we cannot see many products
available on the market. Some researchers have performed the washing reliability
experiments for their products; however, reliability issues are still a major hurdle for
these products.

 As these e-textile systems, when purchased by customers, will undergo a normal

washing process, their washing reliability should be investigated using the normal
household washing process.
 Different organizations are in the process of developing reliability standards for etextile
systems. Currently, some initial drafts for reliability standards are available on the
market; however, detailed e-textile system norms are still not yet available on the
market.
 The durability of the material used for sensitive medical treatments is also a point of
concern for medical experts.

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  Similarly, security issues regarding the breach of sensitive patient data are also another
point of concern in healthcare e-textile devices.

Future of smart textiles:

Scientist and designer are working on application of smart textile for years but last few years
they made their way to headlines. The smart textile market value is $2.75 billion by 2016 and
using of smart textiles will give boost to apparel market to $130 billion by 2025.

Conclusion:
The area of healthcare and medical treatment devices is rapidly growing and increasingly
includes textile structures as substrates or even active systems. Several issues still have to be
addressed; amongst them, the reliability and washability of the e-textile systems is one of the
most important. Currently, activities leading to the establishment of the wearable e-textile
standards and testing methods are intensively driven. Several groups are working on a global
level to help the electronics industry to better design and produce their components and
devices to make them compatible with the soft, lightweight textile structures and their specific
uses in the field of medical and healthcare systems. This review article aimed at a better
understanding of the challenges and issues that must be taken into account and addressed by
both textile and electronics companies to produce reliable and helpful e-textile medical devices
and systems.

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REFERENCES:
WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM
WWW.ELSEVIER.COM
WWW.RESEARCHGATE.COM
https://www.textileblog.com/application-of-smart-textiles-in-medical-and-healthcare/
https://www.loomia.com/wellness-medical-wearables

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