By taking advantage of strain sensing textile fibers, next-gen wearable technology will be able to keep track of a person’s movements.
Many applications can benefit from this type of clothing, according to Dr. Shayan Seyedin, scientist at Deakin Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM). For example, it can provide improved feedback and motion tracking to virtual and augmented reality systems. Professional athletes and medical patients can also benefit, using the gathered data to enhance training or rehabilitation methods.
“Strain sensing textiles have particular relevance in the development of smart devices for health, sports, and soft robotics,” says Dr. Seyedin.
“These wearable devices can convert a wide range of body movements into electrical signals, making it possible to track and record physical activities such as those involved in fitness and health monitoring, improving exercise efficiency, injury prevention, and rehabilitation,” Dr. Seyedin adds.
The knitted textiles utilize conductive elastic fibers. As joints like the knee, elbow, and finger undergo a high range of motion, the fibers seamlessly follow suit. When different resistance levels are recorded, a wireless transmitter chip send the data to computer monitor. After transmission, the information can be used to provide movement feedback and analysis.
“The development of strain sensing textiles that can be worn directly—without the need for a supporting frame, substrate, or an additional clothing item—required significant advances in conductive fiber processing,” says Dr. Seyedin.
According to the research team, since clothing is an everyday part of life, turning them into input/output devices creates an interesting set of opportunities.
“There are sensors out there that measure small changes and pressure, but the fabric we have developed measures large movements and strains of up to 200 per cent, and is wearable on its own without the need for bulky or invasive supports. What we’ve demonstrated is an entirely new concept with the material that we developed specifically for body monitoring applications,” says Dr. Seyedin.
To learn more, check out the article, “Continuous production of stretchable conductive multifilaments in kilometer scale enables facile knitting of wearable strain sensing textiles,” slated to be published in an upcoming issue of Applied Materials Today.
