Design and Manufacturing of E-textiles for Wearable Healthcare
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Winchester School of Art
Abstract
Healthcare is moving towards remote and personalised monitoring and therapy to enable individuals to continuously manage their health and stay healthy for longer. E-textile based wearable products enable the unobtrusive and ubiquitous deployment of smart monitoring systems and the delivery of personalised therapies. E-textile products can also interface with other advanced technologies (e.g. telemedicine, digital healthcare) to become an integral part of an ecosystem to deliver healthcare at home supported by remote consultation.
This project aims to design and develop an e-textile product for monitoring knee function and to strengthen thigh muscles through collaboration with a business partner. This project is built on the team's 15 years of e-textile research. It is underpinned by the e-textiles healthcare technologies developed in an MRC project and the wearable systems developed in an EPSRC project.
The product includes an e-garment with embedded electrodes and sensing yarns, a detachable electronic control, and an app user interface. The project design will address user and market needs, manufacturing requirements, and regulatory compliance which are essential for the success of a healthcare product. The project team will work closely with end users (patients and healthcare professionals) to co-design the product. Different iterations will be designed to address user feedback.
Success of the project will lead to an innovative product with embedded sensing yarns and electrodes for monitoring knee joint movement and muscle strengthening. It will demonstrate knowledge exchange and technology transfer through collaboration between academia and industry. The research team will also explore the application of e-textile technologies in other healthcare applications. This project will support a longer term goal to establish an enterprise unit in the area of e-textile design and development leveraging university's expertise in textile and garment design, electronics, e-textiles and facilities for prototyping and manufacturing.
This project aims to design and develop an e-textile product for monitoring knee function and to strengthen thigh muscles through collaboration with a business partner. This project is built on the team's 15 years of e-textile research. It is underpinned by the e-textiles healthcare technologies developed in an MRC project and the wearable systems developed in an EPSRC project.
The product includes an e-garment with embedded electrodes and sensing yarns, a detachable electronic control, and an app user interface. The project design will address user and market needs, manufacturing requirements, and regulatory compliance which are essential for the success of a healthcare product. The project team will work closely with end users (patients and healthcare professionals) to co-design the product. Different iterations will be designed to address user feedback.
Success of the project will lead to an innovative product with embedded sensing yarns and electrodes for monitoring knee joint movement and muscle strengthening. It will demonstrate knowledge exchange and technology transfer through collaboration between academia and industry. The research team will also explore the application of e-textile technologies in other healthcare applications. This project will support a longer term goal to establish an enterprise unit in the area of e-textile design and development leveraging university's expertise in textile and garment design, electronics, e-textiles and facilities for prototyping and manufacturing.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Kai Yang (Principal Investigator) | |
| Stephen Beeby (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Beeby S
(2024)
Heterogeneous E-Textiles: Materials, Manufacturing and Sustainability
in Advanced Materials Technologies
Liu M
(2024)
Design and development of a stretchable electronic textile and its application in a knee sleeve targeting wearable pain management
in Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
Yang K
(2024)
E-Textiles for Sports and Fitness Sensing: Current State, Challenges, and Future Opportunities.
in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
| Description | This is an ongoing project. The main achieved so far include: An initial app UI designed with project partner An electrode sleeve co-designed with end users which will be manufactured and presented to project partners and end users for feedback |
| Exploitation Route | The outcome could lead to the development of a medical device for pre and post rehabilitation for knee surgery. The platform developed on e-textiles could be used for other wearable therapeutic applications, or integrated with other technologies (e.g. sensors, AI) to for personalised digital healthcare (e.g. inform healthcare professionals in setting personalised rehabilitation goals). |
| Sectors | Healthcare |