Smart Printed Sensors Monitor Movement Sequences
From: Medical Design Technology - 04/25/2016
By: Sam Brusco

Wearable technology has caught on to progress health and fitness. Simply worn
on the body, smart garments can, for instance, track activity. Sensors in
functional clothing could also help optimize exercises by monitoring movement
sequences. A novel transparent sensor material developed by Fraunhofer ISC
enables movement measuring sensors to be printed onto textiles.

The sensor materials coming to use are flexible, transparent, and suitable
for various applications also beside of smart textiles: They register
pressure and deformation and can thus serve as touch or motion sensors. Their
sensitivity to temperature deviations further enables monitoring of
temperature changes or non-contact interaction, e.g. as proximity sensors.

Smart textiles like this could be employed in health care or assisted living.
In eldercare, everyday life movement sequences could be monitored and failure
noticed. Additionally, it would be possible to monitor body signals of
in-patients, such as temperature or breathing. This could be especially
beneficial for bedridden patients or babies. Some day, even heart rate
surveillance may be possible. Last but not least, functional sensor clothing
could achieve cost reductions in the health care system. On top of assuming
patient monitoring functions it could add to preventive health care.

In addition to printed sensors on textiles Fraunhofer ISC shows
textile-integrated pressure sensors made of silicone e.g. to measure pressure
in shoes.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2016/04/smart-printed-sensors-monitor-movement-sequences
http://www.isc.fraunhofer.de/press-and-media/isc-press/news-details/archiv/2016/04/20/meldung/wearable-technology-smart-printed-sensors-monitor-movement-sequences/?L=1&cHash=d309f26296c05764f7320d6ae9fe15de

Link:
Fraunhofer ISC - Exhibitor at IDTechEX Europe
http://www.idtechex.com/printed-electronics-europe/show/en/exhibitors-list/grid/show-all/popup-22318/fraunhofer-isc