Light emitting diodes on fabric for wearable medical therapy

Penta Medical是业界领先的便携式激光治疗设备的制造商，用于治疗软组织损伤。该装置被放置在皮肤受伤部位，将红外光传送到组织中。因为发光二极管（led）存在于传统的、坚硬的电路板上，所以处理更大、更笨拙的身体部位（如肩膀）是很麻烦的。在这个项目中，led和相关电路将集成在织物上，而不是传统的刚性板上。电路图案将使用导电银墨水直接喷墨打印在织物表面，然后焊接led。尼龙6,6，降落伞中使用的典型材料，将被用作能够承受电路制造所需的高温的纺织品。需要解决的挑战是织物表面的粗糙度和金属连接的要求，以容忍反复弯曲。各种类型的尼龙6、尼龙6和含有弹性体的可拉伸银油墨将被探索。如果led能够成功地集成到织物上，这将使Penta Medical能够设计出符合身体的下一代光疗设备，从而适用于所有受伤部位。这将对公司和最终用户都有经济效益。此外，在织物上印制电路的能力将对加拿大不断发展的电子纺织工业有价值。

Penta Medical is the maker of an industry-leading portable laser therapy device to treat soft-tissue injuries. The device is placed on the skin at the location of injury to deliver infrared light into the tissue. Because the light emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit this light exist on conventional, rigid circuit boards, treating larger, more awkwardly-shaped body parts such as shoulders is cumbersome. In this project, LEDs and associated circuity will be integrated on fabric rather than a conventional rigid board. The circuit pattern will be inkjet printed directly on the surface of fabric using conductive silver ink, followed by the soldering of the LEDs. Nylon 6,6, typical of that used in parachutes, will be used as the textile which can tolerate the high temperatures needed for circuit fabrication. Challenges to be addressed are the roughness of the fabric surface and the requirement for the metal connections to tolerate repeated bending. Various types of nylon 6,6 and stretchable silver inks containing elastomers will be explored.If LEDs can successfully be integrated onto fabric, this will allow Penta Medical to design a next-generation light therapy device that is conformal to the body and thus appropriate for all locations of injury. This will have both economic benefits for the company and benefits for the end-users as well. Furthermore, the ability to print circuitry on fabrics will be valuable to Canada's growing e-textile industry.