SUMMARY
UCLA researchers in the Department of Bioengineering have developed a textile-based sensor system (TS system) for wireless, wearable biomonitoring.
BACKGROUND
Wearable biomedical devices offer personalized disease prevention and health promotion. Most wearables are composed of electronic components that are rigid, expensive and awkward to wear. In particular, wearable devices for heart-related monitoring are not only expensive and inconvenient, but also inaccurate due to the materials they are made of. And more importantly, the majority of wearable biomedical devices are based on polymer thin film, silicon, paper, and many others, which lack necessary breathability for long-term on-body applications. Textiles weaved from either natural or synthetic materials present themselves as better materials for wearable cardiovascular sensors.
INNOVATION
UCLA researchers have developed a novel textile-based sensor (TS) system with art design for wearable biomonitoring and interacting over the Internet. The TS system is capable of delivering a sensitivity up to 3.88 V/kPa for ambient tiny pressure sensing and can withstand more than 80,000 cycles of continuous operation without degradation in performance. A wireless monitoring system (WMS) was developed based on the TS for timely processing, transmitting and presentation of signals from the human pulse wave. The WMS was employed to effectively diagnose the obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) during a whole night sleep with body movement.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS
- Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS)
- Cardiovascular monitoring
- Continuous heart rate measurement
- Continuous pulse wave velocity measurement
- Continuous blood pressure measurement
- Measure the artery stiffness
- Augmentation Index measurement
- Reflection Index measurement
ADVANTAGES
- Simple structure
- Soft materials
- Methods compatible with a wide range of materials
- Light weight
- Low cost
- Improved comfort for wearing
RELATED MATERIALS
DEVELOPMENT TO DATE
Prototypes of a textile biosensor were constructed and tested for OSAHS monitoring and human pulse wave measurement.
PATENT PUBLICATION
A Wireless Textile Based Sensor System for Self-Powered Personalized Health Care