Design and Manufacturing of E-textiles for Wearable Healthcare

医疗保健正朝着远程和个性化监测和治疗的方向发展，使个人能够持续管理自己的健康，并保持更长的健康时间。基于电子纺织品的可穿戴产品使智能监控系统的部署不引人注目，无处不在，并提供个性化治疗。电子纺织产品还可以与其他先进技术（例如远程医疗、数字医疗）相结合，成为生态系统的一个组成部分，在远程咨询的支持下提供家庭医疗保健。该项目旨在通过与商业伙伴合作，设计和开发一种监测膝盖功能的电子纺织品，并加强大腿肌肉。该项目建立在该团队15年的电子纺织品研究基础上。它以MRC项目开发的电子纺织品医疗保健技术和EPSRC项目开发的可穿戴系统为基础。该产品包括一件嵌入电极和传感纱线的电子服装、一个可拆卸的电子控制器和一个应用程序用户界面。项目设计将满足用户和市场需求、制造要求和法规遵从性，这些对于医疗保健产品的成功至关重要。项目团队将与最终用户（患者和医疗保健专业人员）密切合作，共同设计产品。将设计不同的迭代来处理用户反馈。该项目的成功将导致一种具有嵌入式传感纱线和电极的创新产品，用于监测膝关节运动和肌肉强化。它将通过学术界和工业界的合作，展示知识交流和技术转让。研究小组亦会探讨电子纺织技术在其他医疗保健方面的应用。该项目将支持一个长期目标，即在电子纺织品设计和开发领域建立一个企业单位，利用大学在纺织品和服装设计、电子、电子纺织品以及原型和制造设施方面的专业知识。

Healthcare is moving towards remote and personalised monitoring and therapy to enable individuals to continuously manage their health and stay healthy for longer. E-textile based wearable products enable the unobtrusive and ubiquitous deployment of smart monitoring systems and the delivery of personalised therapies. E-textile products can also interface with other advanced technologies (e.g. telemedicine, digital healthcare) to become an integral part of an ecosystem to deliver healthcare at home supported by remote consultation.This project aims to design and develop an e-textile product for monitoring knee function and to strengthen thigh muscles through collaboration with a business partner. This project is built on the team's 15 years of e-textile research. It is underpinned by the e-textiles healthcare technologies developed in an MRC project and the wearable systems developed in an EPSRC project.The product includes an e-garment with embedded electrodes and sensing yarns, a detachable electronic control, and an app user interface. The project design will address user and market needs, manufacturing requirements, and regulatory compliance which are essential for the success of a healthcare product. The project team will work closely with end users (patients and healthcare professionals) to co-design the product. Different iterations will be designed to address user feedback. Success of the project will lead to an innovative product with embedded sensing yarns and electrodes for monitoring knee joint movement and muscle strengthening. It will demonstrate knowledge exchange and technology transfer through collaboration between academia and industry. The research team will also explore the application of e-textile technologies in other healthcare applications. This project will support a longer term goal to establish an enterprise unit in the area of e-textile design and development leveraging university's expertise in textile and garment design, electronics, e-textiles and facilities for prototyping and manufacturing.