Wearable Medical Devices Using Textile and Flexible Technologies
for Ambulatory Monitoring

André Dittmar, Richard Meffre, Fabrice De Oliveira, Claudine Gehin, Georges Delhomme

---

Abstract—

Health smart clothes are in contact with almost all
the surface of the skin offer large possibilities for the location of
sensors for non invasive measurements. Head band, collar, teeshirt,
socks, shoes, belts for chest, arm, wrist, legs … provide
localization with specific purpose taking into account their
proximity of an organ or a source of biosignal, and also its
ergonomic possibility (user friendly) to fix a sensor, and the
associated instrumentations (batteries, amplifiers, signal
processing, telecom, alarm, display …).
Progress in science and technology offers, for the first time,
intelligence, speed, miniaturization, sophistication and new
materials at low cost. In this new landscape, microtechnologies,
information technologies and telecommunications are a key
factor. Microsensors : Microtechnologies offer the possibility of
small size, but also intelligent, active device, working with low
energy, wireless and non invasive or mini invasive. These
sensors have to be thin, flexible and compatible with textile, or
made using textile technologies, new fibers with specific
properties: mechanical, electrical, optical …
The field of applications is very large, e.g. continuous
monitoring on elderly population, professional and military
activities, athlete’s performance and condition, and people with
disabilities.
The research are oriented toward two complementary
directions: Improving the relevancy of each sensor and
increasing the number of sensors for having a more global
synthetic and robust information.


http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17281928