Smart clothes track wearer's health

Clothing that can measure the wearer's body temperature or track the heart's activity has just appeared on the market, but Europe's BIOTEX project hopes to bring new functions to smart fabrics. Miniature biosensors on the fabric surface can now analyze body fluids, even just a small sweat, and make better judgments about the wearer's health.

Imagine at 7am, look in the mirror, fix your collar and think of a busy day ahead. But at least you know that the pressure will not wreak havoc on your health because this is not a normal outfit. Included in the fabric are countless sensors, which regularly monitor your health indicators. If any danger signs are found, the clothes are programmed to contact your doctor and send a message advising you to relax.

A group of European research projects (SFIT Group) are advocating for smart yarns, interactive fabric materials and flexible wear systems. According to Jean Luprano, researcher at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Micro-Technology (CSEM), co-cooperated in the BIOTEX project.'One of the most obvious applications of smart fibers is in the medical field. People have progressed a lot in body physiological methods, body temperature and electrocardiography. But no one has been able to develop biochemical induction techniques for liquids like sweat and blood. We are developing a sensor that can be integrated into a fabric area. This fabric is a touch and processing unit, modified to pay attention to fluids and biochemical patterns. At the very least, some basic biochemical analyzes may add to the already-monitored methods of physical physiology. In some cases, fluid analysis may be the only method to capture patient's health status information. '

Success in touch

But the simple reason scientists still hesitate to develop intelligent fabrics that monitor fluid: this is extremely confusing. How to obtain fluids and transfer to biological induction units? Need blood tests? Are these measures reliable and accurate for very small amounts of fluid? BIOTEX partners - universities and small businesses from Italy, France and Ireland - have partnered with CSEM to overcome some of the technical barriers to bio-sensitive fabric materials.

One of the main achievements of the project is the development of the first ion bio-sensor, capable of measuring sodium, potassium and chlorine in sweat samples. A probe measures the conductivity of sweat and a miniature pH sensor determines the pH of sweat thanks to color changes. An immune sensor, which can be integrated into wound dressings, is capable of checking the presence of proteins in fluid samples.

These biological sensors are not just miniature versions of current technology. Luprano points out that 'Many chemical or biochemical reactions used in the samples are irreversible and some part of the biological sensor must be replaced. When you want constant monitoring, you can't do that - you need a sensor that attaches to both reverse and positive substrates. In addition, BIOTEX sensors work with extremely small amounts of fluids, so we have to come up with advanced designs and materials that can help shrink sensors and make them compatible. with yarn. '

Some BIOTEX probes, including pH sensors, use color change or other optical measurement methods. For example, when sweat penetrates through the pH sensor, it causes the indicator to change color - this is recognized by a portable spectral device. Immune induction technology has a similar mechanism. Plastic optical fibers (POFs) are woven into fabric fibers so that light can be supplied to optical sensors. The reflected light is then redirected to the spectrometer.

Smart clothes (Photo: medgadget.com)

Small and smart

BIOTEX's oxygen probe measures the amount of oxygen saturation in the blood around the chest area using a technology known as reflective oxygen saturation. A group of plastic optical fibers allows a wide area of ​​the chest to be illuminated and improves the concentration of reflective red rays and infrared light used in oxygen sensors. Signal processing also improves the sensitivity of this method.
However, having a bio-sensing region in the fabric is one thing, but how does the fluid come in contact with the sensors?

'The amount of fluid released from sweat glands is only a few milliliters on a small surface, and the body's body temperature causes them to evaporate quickly. We need a pump to get sweat in an area and then to the sensors, where they are transferred through each induction. '

The solution is to use water-repellent and water-resistant fibers. It is possible to weave these two threads to bring sweat through fiber channels to the sensor area. This is a passive system that does not use energy, thus reducing the energy demand for the BIOTEX system (and the mass of the battery that the wearer must carry).

In BIOTEX's first tests, these smart pieces will be woven into the clothes of people with obesity and diabetes, as well as athletes. Once this technology is legalized, the next plan is to rely on the industry for commercialization. In the meantime, a large European-funded project within the SFIT Group, called PROETEX, is integrating technology with other micro-systems or systems for special applications (fire or rescue household).

However, while BIOTEX has solved many technical aspects of this continuous biochemical surveillance method, Luprano calls for more research to be directed at the application of this technology.'This technology is new and health service providers are still not familiar with it. We are still unfamiliar with the information that remote monitoring technology can continuously provide - very different from the one-time lab tests that people still know. BIOTEX has made this remote monitoring technology work but more research works on the relationships between these indicators and disease status will make it more realistic. However, in the long run, we hope continuous monitoring, thanks to smart fabrics, will bring about an important improvement in the treatment of metabolic disorders. '