couple of innovative companies are taking different angles on how wearable medical observation apparatus can be used in sport and medicine. Now, an EU-funded project is setting out to take the next step – creating comfortable clothing with the built-in ability to measure a range of physiological data using intelligent textiles instead of bulky apparatus. Comfortable and unobtrusive biochemical measurement equipment could play a significant role in preventative and recovery medicine, among other areas. As the first of its kind, the BIOTEX project is developing optimal electric, electrochemical and optical sensors which will be embedded into a textile substrate to create ‘sensing patches’ able to monitor the biochemical parameters of a user.
The aim of these ‘sensing patches’ will be to continuously monitor the bodily fluids (blood, sweat and urine) of the wearer throughout the day. In this way, the project aims to be of particular use for people working in extreme conditions as well as people suffering from diabetes or sportspeople.’The main idea behind the project is to develop biochemical sensors for three potential applications. The first will be to monitor sweat including the pH, salinity and perspiration rate of the user. The second will be to detect the level of infection of patients suffering from burns so as to monitor the healing of their wounds. And the third will be to monitor blood oxygen saturation levels for medical, sport and even security applications,’ said Isabelle Chartier of the French Atomic Energy Commission, one of the partners in the project.The next step in the project will be to try out the first multi-parameter sensing-patches on test subjects. The project consortium consists of eight partners from four countries. It includes two research institutes in the field of micro and nanotechnology, two small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in clothing research and development and production, two universities with leadership in wearable bioengineering, and two companies with expertise in the engineering and manufacturing of textiles for demanding markets.
Integration of health monitoring tools into textiles brings the benefits of safety and comfort to the users. Instrumented clothes will provide remote monitoring of vitals signs, diagnostics to improve early illness detection and metabolic disorder and benefits to the reduction on medical social costs to the citizen. Ambulatory healthcare, isolated people, convalescent people and patients with chronic diseases are addressed. To date, developments in that field are mainly focused on physiological measurements (body temperature, electro-cardiogram, electromyogram, breath rhythm, etc.) with first applications targeting sport monitoring and prevention of cardiovascular risk. Biochemical measurements on body fluids will be needed to tackle very important health and safety issues. The BIOTEX project aims at developing dedicated biochemical-sensing techniques compatible with integration into textile. This goal represents a complete breakthrough, which allows for the first time the monitoring of body fluids via sensors distributed on a textile substrate and performing biochemical measurements. BIOTEX is addressing the sensing part and its electrical or optical connection to a signal processor.
The approach aims at developing sensing patches, adapted to different targeted body fluids and biological species to be monitored, where the textile itself is the sensor. The extension to whole garment and the integration with physiological monitors is part of the roadmap of the consortium. The BIOTEX project is a Specific Targeted Research or Innovation Project (STREP) part of the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission, Priority 2&3, joint call between IST (Information Society Technologies) and NMP (Nanotechnology and nanosciences, knowledge-based multifunctional materials and new production processes and devices). The consortium consists of 8 partners from 4 countries. It includes two research institutes in the field of micro and nanotechnology, two SMEs active in clothing R&D and production, two universities leader in wearable bioengineering, and two companies expert in engineering and manufacturing of textiles for demanding markets. Four applications were selected in order to require a wide range of potential sweat and blood sensors with minimal discomfort to the users. These applications are:
•Obese Children: to improve their level of activity and get a sufficient quantity of minerals.
•Sportive people: to guaranty the quantity of minerals and avoid dehydration for athletes.
•Diabetes: to prevent the different pathologic states, which is of concern for many people.
•Wound healing and skin graft: to track the evolution of wounds and to avoid the appearance of chronic state or infection.
A public version of the Use and technical requirements for the applications can be downloaded in format. The list of sensors and their specifications were derived from these requirements. The following aspects were specified:
•For the measurement aspects, in order to build wearable systems monitoring species in body fluids:
◦Biological species to analyze in blood and in sweat
◦Concentration range, sensitivity, reproducibility, quantity, contamination
◦Other species in presence in the fluids
◦Type of measurement: one shot, sequential, continuous, threshold, relative, etc.
◦Liquid collection and isolation constraints
◦Electronics
•For the textile processing, since the research targets the use of standard production processes with as small as possible changes:
◦Thermal maximum temperature
◦Chemical compatibility with the processes
◦Physical compatibility with fibre fabrication
•Last but not least, for the use constraints:
◦Business requirements for each application
◦Medical requirements, classification
◦Legal requirements, marking, etc.
◦Security and ethical issues
◦User friendliness
◦Location on the body, type of contact with the skin
◦Size of patch and electronics
◦Costs of patch and electronics
◦Ambient conditions and variations: temperature, atmosphere, light
◦Future garment integration: disposability, dismountability, washability
The feasibility of each sensor was evaluated and was then breadboarded using laboratory equipment. Not only scientific and technical aspects were considered during this phase, but also the specifications derived during the previous phase which aspects are listed in the above lists. It appeared clearly that the challenges were for some sensors larger than expected. A pipeline approach was introduce to accommodate the progress pace for each sensor. Because of their challenge, the development of some sensors had to be suspended, to fit the available resources of the project, while other ones could be pursued due to their results. Information concerning the project and its results can be found on the CORDIS website concerning ICT Results. Several sensors have been built and are currently being tested. Some of them are illustrated by the following pictures. Test results will be presented in a future update of this web page.
Project coordinator: Jean Luprano (CSEM SA Jaquet-Droz 1 – CH-2007 Neuchâtel – Switzerland )
T: +41 32 7205 378
