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A shirt, a sleeve or even a sock could in future become advanced tools for monitoring the movements of the body, and therefore also our health. So suggests a new study published in Nature Communications, which questions one of the most deeply rooted convictions in the field of wearable technology, already familiar to us with smart watches and smart bracelets used to monitor, for example, cardiac activity during physical exercise.
According to the research, more accurate measurements can be obtained if the sensors are not attached to the skin. The study, conducted by British researchers at King’s College London and released this year, shows that sensors embedded into loose clothing or soft fabric can recognise and even predict human movement with greater precision than sensors attached directly to the body.
Sensors embedded in clothing: why loose clothing works better
The research, which analysed the way in which fabric movements respond to the actions of the body, clarified that sensors applied to loose fabric can improve movement recognition accuracy by up to 40% compared to traditional sensors attached to the wrist or body. Moreover, they require about 80% less movement data to correctly identify an action. This is linked, it appears, to the dynamic movement of the fabric: when a person moves their arm, for example, the sleeve doesn’t simply follow that movement but rather it folds, distends and oscillates. This behaviour doesn't confuse the sensor, but, on the contrary, creates a complex pattern of micro-movements that amplify the information, transforming what was initially considered “noise” into a data-rich signal.
The trials: from robots to humans
To check this hypothesis, the team conducted several experiments using mechanical systems, robots and human volunteers. In the first stage, a robotic arm was fitted with both rigid sensors and sensors applied to a strip of fabric. The results showed that the sensor on the fabric was better able to distinguish between very similar movements, above all when the differences were minimal. Subsequently, 22 volunteers put on shirts fitted with two sensors: one positioned on the wrist and one on a loose-fitting sleeve. In the most difficult tasks, the sensor on the sleeve performed about 10-15 percentage points better than the one on the wrist.
What wearable devices can measure
The study could have a significant impact: such high-performing sensors embedded in clothing make them “intelligent” and able to assess many parameters that are useful for monitoring health. This is so-called smart clothing: t-shirts, gloves, bras or socks will, in future, be increasingly able to monitor parameters such as posture and muscular activity as well as cardiac and respiratory activity, body temperature, sweating and various indicators of stress and tiredness. And all for a variety of objectives. For example…
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to support motor rehabilitation with sensors that monitor posture and body movements;
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to prevent elderly people falling;
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to monitor sleep quality, which appears to be possible thanks to a smart pyjama prototype designed at the University of Cambridge;
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to manage neurological disease, using systems able to record muscular activity and movement;
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to detect early signs of illness and so boost secondary prevention;
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to support the management and follow-up of chronic disease, improving, for example, respiratory monitoring of patients with pulmonary disease or cardiac monitoring of those with heart problems.
The information provided by these smart textiles can be gathered and then transmitted by smartphone, cloud platforms or clinical systems, enabling continuous and non-invasive monitoring by doctors of activities carried out by patients in their daily lives.
Towards the medicine of the future
As well as being clinically effective, smart clothing could also have a significant economic impact. Studies have indeed shown that continuous patient monitoring leads to fewer avoidable hospital admissions, improves the management of chronic disease, facilitates telemedicine and in-home care and reduces complications.
Smart clothing, therefore, could be a central component of the medicine of the future. Smart clothing may become a comprehensive early diagnosis system, able to detect signs of disease even before symptoms appear. Ultimately, its integration with digital healthcare platforms could provide doctors with an ongoing overview of patients’ state of health, improving quality of care and making healthcare systems more sustainable.
