Graphene-based wearable e-textiles are considered to be promising due to their advantages over traditional metal-based technology. However, the manufacturing process is complex and currently not suitable for industrial scale application. Here we report a simple, scalable, and cost-effective method of producing graphene-based wearable e-textiles through the chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) to make stable reduced graphene oxide (rGO) dispersion which can then be applied to the textile fabric using a simple pad-dry technique. This application method allows the potential manufacture of conductive graphene e-textiles at commercial production rates of ∼150 m/min. The graphene e-textile materials produced are durable and washable with acceptable softness/hand feel. The rGO coating enhanced the tensile strength of cotton fabric and also the flexibility due to the increase in strain% at maximum load. We demonstrate the potential application of these graphene e-textiles for wearable electronics with activity monitoring sensor. This could potentially lead to a multifunctional single graphene e-textile garment that can act both as sensors and flexible heating elements powered by the energy stored in graphene textile supercapacitors.

Multifunctional wearable e-textiles have been a focus of much attention due to their great potential for healthcare, sportswear, fitness, space, and military applications. Among them, electroconductive textile yarn shows great promise for use as next-generation flexible sensors without compromising the properties and comfort of usual textiles. However, the current manufacturing process of metal-based electroconductive textile yarn is expensive, unscalable, and environmentally unfriendly. Here we report a highly scalable and ultrafast production of graphene-based flexible, washable, and bendable wearable textile sensors. We engineer graphene flakes and their dispersions in order to select the best formulation for wearable textile application. We then use a high-speed yarn dyeing technique to dye (coat) textile yarn with graphene-based inks. Such graphene-based yarns are then integrated into a knitted structure as a flexible sensor and could send data wirelessly to a device via a self-powered RFID or a low-powered Bluetooth. The graphene textile sensor thus produced shows excellent temperature sensitivity, very good washability, and extremely high flexibility. Such a process could potentially be scaled up in a high-speed industrial setup to produce tonnes (∼1000 kg/h) of electroconductive textile yarns for next-generation wearable electronics applications.

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This paper presents a study conducted on the thermo-mechanical properties of knitted structures, the methods of manufacture, effect of contact pressure at the structural binding points, on the degree of heating. The test results also present the level of heating produced as a function of the separation between the supply terminals. The study further investigates the rate of heating and cooling of the knitted structures. The work also presents the decay of heating properties of the yarn due to overheating. Thermal images were taken to study the heat distribution over the surface of the knitted fabric. A tensile tester having constant rate of extension was used to stretch the fabric. The behavior of temperature profile of stretched fabric was observed. A comparison of heat generation by plain, rib and interlock structures was studied. It was observed from the series of experiments that there is a minimum threshold force of contact at binding points of a knitted structure is required to pass the electricity. Once this force is achieved, stretching the fabric does not affect the amount of heat produced.

The concept of "system of systems" architecture is increasingly prevalent in many critical domains. Such systems allow information to be pulled from a variety of sources, analyzed to discover correlations and trends, stored to enable realtime and post-hoc assessment, mined to better inform decisionmaking, and leveraged to automate control of system units. In contrast, medical devices typically have been developed as monolithic stand-alone units. However, a vision is emerging of a notion of a medical application platform (MAP) that would provide device and health information systems (HIS) interoperability, safety critical network middleware, and an execution environment for clinical applications ("apps") that offer numerous advantages for safety and effectiveness in health care delivery.In this paper, we present the clinical safety/effectiveness and economic motivations for MAPs, and describe key characteristics of MAPs that are guiding the search for appropriate technology, regulatory, and ecosystem solutions. We give an overview of the Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE) -one particular achitecture for MAPs, and the Medical Device Coordination Framework -a prototype implementation of the ICE architecture. Abstract-The concept of "system of systems" architecture is increasingly prevalent in many critical domains. Such systems allow information to be pulled from a variety of sources, analyzed to discover correlations and trends, stored to enable realtime and post-hoc assessment, mined to better inform decisionmaking, and leveraged to automate control of system units. In contrast, medical devices typically have been developed as monolithic stand-alone units. However, a vision is emerging of a notion of a medical application platform (MAP) that would provide device and health information systems (HIS) interoperability, safety critical network middleware, and an execution environment for clinical applications ("apps") that offer numerous advantages for safety and effectiveness in health care delivery.In this paper, we present the clinical safety/effectiveness and economic motivations for MAPs, and describe key characteristics of MAPs that are guiding the search for appropriate technology, regulatory, and ecosystem solutions. We give an overview of the Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE) -one particular achitecture for MAPs, and the Medical Device Coordination Framework -a prototype implementation of the ICE architecture.

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Continuous measurement of cardio-respiratory signals offers various kinds of information valuable for the diagnosis of disease and management of the disease process. The article reports the development of the Piezofilm yarn sensor for healthcare applications, and investigates its performance by monitoring cardio-respiratory signals of human body over an extended period of time. Piezofilm yarn sensor was developed by embedding the thin PVDF strips within the textile yarn. The working mechanism of the Piezofilm yarn sensor is based on voltage generation due to the applied stress. In order to deploy the Piezofilm yarn sensor in the application environment, it was integrated into the knitted textile fabric and then sewn to form belt to be placed at the chest wall and wrist area. The raw signals were acquired through the Piezofilm lab amplifier, National Instrument data acquisition device and SignalExpress software. Fast Fourier Transform analysis was performed to calculate the average cardio-respiratory signal frequencies. Based on Fast Fourier Transform analysis, an additional signalprocessing step was added to eliminate the unwanted mechanical interference and body signals by using an Infinite Impulse Response band pass filter. The Piezofilm yarn sensor embedded sensing fabric was able to measure both respiratory rate and heart beat rate under static and dynamic conditions. The wrist area measurements for heart beat signals were found to be more uniform in comparison to the chest area measurements. Apart from the general healthcare, this sensing fabric could also be used in studies related to biorhythms, sports, detection of sleep apnea and heart problems.

Graphene-based wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles) show promise for next-generation personalized healthcare applications due to their non-invasive nature. However, the poor performance, less comfort, and higher material cost limit their wide applications. Here a simple and scalable production method of producing graphene-based electro-conductive yarn that is further embroidered to realize piezoresistive sensors is reported. The multilayer structures improved the conductivity of the piezoresistive sensors, exhibiting good sensitivity with high response and recovery speed. Additionally, the potential applications of such wearable, ultraflexible and machine-washable piezoresistive sensors as pressure and breathing sensors are demonstrated. This will be an important step toward realizing multifunctional applications of wearable e-textiles for next-generation personalized healthcare applications.