Wearable Systems for Personalised Health Care

Smartex Srl and the University of Pisa has jointly developed several new textile-based systems for vital signs monitoring, upper limb gesture, and posture capturing, to be mostly used in medical applications. The conductive and the basal yarn, used to realize the piezoresistive domains, behave as strain gage sensors and show piezoresistive properties in response to an external mechanical stimulus. The device uses fabric sensors, which improve the comfort and wearability of health care devices, enabling to obtain signals and performances comparable to gold standards. The Kinematic Sensor System (KSS), which integrates both signal acquisition and processing, provides a visualization of joint segment motion in a tridimensional interactive environment. The sensing glove, in its posture detection functionality, has been tested in movements involving the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joint of the forefinger. The main advantage ensured by these prototypes is the possibility of wearing them for a long period without discomfort