Highly Bendable and Rotational Textile Structure with Prestrained Conductive Sewing Pattern for Human Joint Monitoring

Abstract

Human joints have respective ranges of motion and joint forces corresponding to each kind of joint; this necessitates considerations of the characteristics of human joints to fabricate wearable strain sensors conformable to the human body, and capable of precisely monitoring complex motions of the human body. In the present study, the “all textile‐based highly stretchable structure” that is capable of precisely sensing motions (folding and rotation) of the human joints (finger, wrist, elbow, spine, and knee) is fabricated by optimizing patterns (straight, blind, and zigzag) of conductive yarns employed as the conductive part of the strain sensor, and several textile substrates (braided elastic fabric, knit fabric, and woven fabric), having preferable elasticity and conformability employed for the fabrication of strain sensors suitable for human joints. In particular, the technology, enabling the prestraining of textile substrate, is exploited to fabricate a strain sensor that is capable of outputting selective signals corresponding to the folding motion of the spinal joint over a predetermined angle of motion, and the gait pattern of the wearer of the sensor, attached to his or her knee joint doing folding and rotational motions, is analyzed.

Highly Linear Stretching Sensors with Braiding Structure Constraining Cracks

“…However, the resistance variation induced by geometrical effect in 50%–75% strain become non‐linear, because the crack propagation in this scale reduces the linearity (from 0.997 of 0–50% strain to 0.888 of 0–75% strain, Figure 5b) while the ΔR / R 0 of TSB in 0–75% strain still keeps a high linearity (0.995, Figure 5a). The GF values of TSB in the strain ranges of 0–50%, 0–75%, and 0–100% are 0.89, 1.07, and 1.54, respectively, which are comparable with the Ag coated nylon fibers ( GF = 0.1 in 0–49% strain), [ 20 ] PBG/SC/EI sensor ( GF = 0.76 in 0–70% strain), [ 21 ] and PVA/CS‐PA sensor ( GF = 2.17 in 0–100% strain). [ 22 ]…”

Wearable Stretchable Dry and Self‐Adhesive Strain Sensors with Conformal Contact to Skin for High‐Quality Motion Monitoring

“…Wearable strain sensors are often mounted on skin to monitor the body movement, particularly the movement of joints, because the movements of the joints such as the neck, shoulder, wrist, spine, and ankle can be affected by ageing, injury, and diseases. [ 5a,6a,19 ] Hence, monitoring these joint motions is essential for healthcare and patient rehabilitation.…”

Fully Printed Stretchable and Multifunctional E‐Textiles for Aesthetic Wearable Electronic Systems

“…In comparison with previous textile‐based sensors reported in literature, the sensing performance of PESS is much better ( Table 1 ). [ 15,23,31,36–39 ]…”