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With favorable properties of stretchability, stitchability, and potential to be woven into a fabric, thread-based sensors have gained considerable interest for wearable devices for smart and connected health applications. To facilitate wearable applications, an easy and reliable way to fabricate these thread-based sensors with good performance and consistency is the key while manufacturing these smart threads. In this paper, we propose an automated thread-coating system that can fabricate thread-based strain sensors with controlled parameters. The platform uses integrated sensors for controlled manufacturing of the threads in a highly compact structure that consists of an innovative tension sensor and a closed-loop thermal management system. Using this new system, a sample thread with a gauge factor of 1.47 and tension sensitivity of 32.64 K Ω /N is prepared. Compared with hand-coated thread, the machine-fabricated thread shows much better sensitivity and consistency. The prepared strain sensor is made into a respiration sensor patch and a limb motion patch to demonstrate its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research progress of screen-printing technology for electronic textile preparation was summarized. The technology principle of screen-printing technology was introduced. The influence of screen-printing parameters on the electrical conductivity and printing quality of electronic textiles was analyzed. The research and application of screen-printing technology in the field of electronic textiles were explained, including human body monitoring, electromagnetic shielding, energy collection and storage, human-computer interaction interface, etc. The future research direction of electronic textiles prepared by screen-printing technology was prospected. It is considered that the potential applications of electronic textiles should be explored in the future according to the needs of users. Screen printing technology should be combined, the linkage between electronic equipment should be strengthened and electronic textile system should be constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, research on nanogenerators (NGs) has shown great interest in utilizing mechanical and thermal energy that is freely and easily available in nature to meet the future needs for sustainable technologies. The macroscopic properties of NGs are determined by the multifaceted effects of surface and material properties on the nanoscale, and various fabrication and preparation strategies for surfaces and materials are required to achieve the desired nanogenerator properties. NGs prepared by spinning or electrospinning have good performance in wearable electronic sensor tables. Wearable devices prepared by electrospinning have designable breathability, stretchability, mechanical properties, and can be easily loaded with functional particles, thus enabling rich multifunctional designs and convenient wearable designs. Therefore, this paper reviews the advantages of electrospinning in the preparation of NGs and highlights the recent advances in electrospinning NGs in the fields of sensors, biomedicine, agriculture, and air filtration. In the future, electrospinning NGs can be fabricated and the ultrahigh pressure property of NGs can be utilized to design forms of electrospinning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With favorable properties of stretchability, stitchability, and potential to be woven into a fabric, thread-based sensors have gained considerable interest for wearable devices for smart and connected health applications. To facilitate wearable applications, an easy and reliable way to fabricate these thread-based sensors with good performance and consistency is the key while manufacturing these smart threads. In this paper, we propose an automated thread-coating system that can fabricate thread-based strain sensors with controlled parameters. The platform uses integrated sensors for controlled manufacturing of the threads in a highly compact structure that consists of an innovative tension sensor and a closed-loop thermal management system. Using this new system, a sample thread with a gauge factor of 1.47 and tension sensitivity of 32.64 KΩ/N is prepared. Compared with hand-coated thread, the machine-fabricated thread shows much better sensitivity and consistency. The prepared strain sensor is made into a respiration sensor patch and a limb motion patch to demonstrate its application.

Abstract Triboelectric sensors emerged as a new promising sensor several years ago for their high sensitivity, low cost, and zero power consumption. Its capability of realizing various sensing without consuming external power offers a new strategy for promoting the internet of healthcare. Several triboelectric sensors have been used for healthcare monitoring. Such as eye fatigue, pulse, blood pressure, human motion, etc. Various healthcare monitoring devices on the human body help build the internet of healthcare. In this perspective, first, the introduction of triboelectric sensors is proposed. Then, the current healthcare electronics enabled by the triboelectric sensor are discussed. Third, future requirements for the triboelectric sensor are proposed. Finally, future methods for the triboelectric sensor to build the internet of healthcare are discussed.

Conventional hydrogels often suffer from limitations such as poor hysteresis and low elasticity, significantly restricting their applications and service life. To address these issues, a spider web-inspired super-low hysteresis interpenetrating network hydrogel is designed using a straightforward in-situ thermal polymerization process. Stretching repeatedly within the range of human motion strain, this hydrogel can be rapidly restored to its original form using the formation of multiple hydrogen bonds and the introduction of the molecular spring structure of the β-sheet and α-helix in sericin, which means the service life of the hydrogel is increased imperceptibly. In addition, the sensitive sensing properties of the hydrogel allow for rapid feedback on the movement of human joints, making it possible to apply to considerably sophisticated human motion monitoring requiring rapid response. This kind of hydrogel with super-low hysteresis (1.65 %, ε = 100 %), transparency (88.84 % in 500 nm), rapid response (≈173 ms) and excellent sensitivity (GF = 2.88 in the strain range of 0–180 %) has great application prospects in intelligent judgment in sports competition and human body monitoring. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible temperature sensors have been widely used in electronic skins and health monitoring. Body temperature as one of the key physiological signals is crucial for detecting human body's abnormalities, which necessitates high sensitivity, quick responsiveness, and stable monitoring. In this paper, we reported a resistive temperature sensor designed as an ultrathin laminated structure with a serpentine pattern and a bioinspired adhesive layer, which was fabricated with a composite of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)/single-wall carbon nanotubes/reduced graphene oxide (PEDOT:PSS/SWCNTs/rGO) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The temperature sensor exhibited a high temperature sensitivity of 0.63% °C -1 , coupled with outstanding linearity of 0.98 within 25-45 °C. Furthermore, it showed fast response and recovery speeds of 4.8 and 5.8 s, respectively, between 25 and 36 °C. It also demonstrated exceptional stability when subjected to stress and bending disturbances with the maximum bending interference deviation of 0.03%. Additionally, it displayed good cyclic stability over a broad temperature range from 25 to 85 °C, and the standard deviation at 25 °C is 0.14%. A series of experiments including blowing detection, respiratory monitoring with or without a mask, and during rest or sleep were conducted to show the potential of the flexible temperature sensors in human body monitoring. Furthermore, a 4 × 4 flexible temperature sensor matrix was integrated to detect and map objects such as wrenches and blood vessels through human hand skin. The results were consistent with those of infrared measurements. The flexible temperature sensor is capable of real-time temperature monitoring and has the potential in tracking human respiration, assessing sleep quality, and mapping the temperature of various objects.

Wearable human–computer interaction equipment is a common technology, which can improve the comfort, convenience, and safety of the human body, and also can monitor human health. The flexible and wearable tensile sensor can be conveniently installed on clothes or directly connected to the body. This provides a convenient, timely, and portable solution for the detection of human motion. Therefore, wearable electronic equipment is gaining more attention. In this paper, a highly stretchable, flexible, and sensitive strain sensor which is based on multi‐walled carbon nanotubes/Ecoflex nanocomposites is reported. A monofilament tensile sensor obtains good linearity (10.77%), low hysteresis (1.63%), good stability (6000 cycles under 100% strain), and ultra‐high strain range (ε = 1300%). This ultra‐stretchable sensor has potential applications in human motion monitoring, medical rehabilitation, health monitoring, human–computer interaction, and soft robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there is a growing emphasis on the utilization of wearable devices for monitoring various aspects of human body movement. However, a persistent obstacle in the way of their widespread adoption is the requirement for an external power to keep them operational. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), an emerging power technology, can convert low-frequency mechanical energy into real-time electrical signals and obtain corresponding mechanical motion characteristics, enabling self-powered human body signal monitoring with advantages of compact size, easy preparation, and low cost. It offers a promising avenue for advancing the field of human motion monitoring without an external power. In this review, we systematically review the latest progress of TENG-based human body signals sensors (HBSSs) in terms of working mechanism, design principles, function integrations and monitoring accuracy, as well as the corresponding TENG based wearable device advantages in sensitivity, stability and wearing comfort. According to the monitoring field, TENG-based HBSSs can be divided into two kinds of researching directions, which contain the basic physiological signals monitoring and motion signals monitoring. Some representative applications in these two aspects are summarized to highlight the superiorities of TENG-based HBSSs. Further, the current challenges and promising solutions for future TENG-based HBSS are outlined, including sensitivity, stability, and wearing comfort, which will better steer new researchers toward a deeper understanding and exploration of TENG for the self-powered sensing technology. [Display omitted] • The self-powered TENG-based HBSSs are classified into basic physiological signals and motion signals. • Some representative applications in physiological and motion signals monitoring of TENG based HBBSs are summarized. • The current challenges and promising solutions are outlined for strengthening the applicability of TENG based HBSSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of (in)activity periods when monitoring human body motion is a mandatory preprocessing step in all human inertial navigation and position analysis applications. Distinction of (in)activity needs to be established in order to allow the system to recompute the calibration parameters of the inertial sensors as well as the Zero Velocity Updates (ZUPT) of inertial navigation. The periodical recomputation of these parameters allows the application to maintain a constant degree of precision. This work presents a comparative study among different well known inertial magnitude-based detectors and proposes a new approach by applying spectrum-based detectors and memory-based detectors. A robust statistical comparison is carried out by the use of an accelerometer and angular rate signal synthesizer that mimics the output of accelerometers and gyroscopes when subjects are performing basic activities of daily life. Theoretical results are verified by testing the algorithms over signals gathered using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Detection accuracy rates of up to 97% are achieved.

An editorial is presented on escalating technologies with their fascinating intricacies capture the interest of scholars from myriad disciplines, and nursing is no exception. Topics include the sensor technology is a new bandwagon to carry nurse leaders are scientists, researchers, administrators, and practitioners, the medicine as a natural by-product from the depths of precision health, and the scientific approach in medicine created to monitor and predict changes in human health parameters.

Determination of (in)activity periods when monitoring human body motion is a mandatory preprocessing step in all human inertial navigation and position analysis applications. Distinction of (in)activity needs to be established in order to allow the system to recompute the calibration parameters of the inertial sensors as well as the Zero Velocity Updates (ZUPT) of inertial navigation. The periodical recomputation of the separameters allows the application to maintain a constant degree of precision. This work presents a comparative study among different well known inertial magnitude-based detectors and proposes a new approach by applying spectrum-based detectors and memory-based detectors. A robust statistical comparison is carried out by the use of an accelerometer and angular rate signal synthesizer that mimics the output of accelerometers and gyroscopes when subjects are performing basic activities of daily life. Theoretical results are verified by testing the algorithms over signals gathered using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Detection accuracy rates of up to 97% are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Human body movement can be monitored through a wireless network composed of inertial sensors. This work presents the development of Wagyromag (Wireless Accelerometer, GYROscope and MAGnetometer), a wireless Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) composed of a triaxial accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. Communication is based on a 802.15.4 network. Furthermore, calibration, signal conditioning and signal processing algorithms are presented throughout this work. Wagyromag’s high potential permits its application in a wide range of medical applications such as telerehabilitation, nocturnal epilepsy seizure detection, fall detection and other applications in the field of sport science. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a novel energy-efficient MAC Protocol designed specifically for wireless body area sensor networks (WBASN) focused towards pervasive healthcare applications. Wireless body area networks consist of wireless sensor nodes attached to the human body to monitor vital signs such as body temperature, activity or heart-rate. The network adopts a master-slave architecture, where the body-worn slave node periodically sends sensor readings to a central master node. Unlike traditional peer-to-peer wireless sensor networks, the nodes in this biomedical WBASN are not deployed in an ad hoc fashion. Joining a network is centrally managed and all communications are single-hop. To reduce energy consumption, all the sensor nodes are in standby or sleep mode until the centrally assigned time slot. Once a node has joined a network, there is no possibility of collision within a cluster as all communication is initiated by the central node and is addressed uniquely to a slave node. To avoid collisions with nearby transmitters, a clear channel assessment algorithm based on standard listen-before-transmit (LBT) is used. To handle time slot overlaps, the novel concept of a wakeup fallback time is introduced. Using single-hop communication and centrally controlled sleep/wakeup times leads to significant energy reductions for this application compared to more ldquoflexiblerdquo network MAC protocols such as 802.11 or Zigbee. As duty cycle is reduced, the overall power consumption approaches the standby power. The protocol is implemented in hardware as part of the Sensiumtrade system-on-chip WBASN ASIC, in a 0.13- mum CMOS process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Applied research on biomedical applications of UWB radar is targeted to the identification of the possible new devices made possible by the technology, to the design and development of those devices, and to the clinical testing of the systems obtained. Applications can be divided into two main sectors according to the frequency range used. For the conventional UWB radar microwave region: cardiac biomechanics assessment; chest movements assessment OSA (obstructive sleep apnoea) monitors; soft-tissue biomechanics research; heart imaging ("Holter type" echocardiography); chest imaging. Together with systems for: cardiac monitoring; respiratory monitoring; SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) monitor; vocal tract studying. If an IR laser diode is used as the antenna, a more common radar is obtained (actually a hybrid between a narrow band and a wide band radar) which emits a short packet of electromagnetic waves whose echoes are sampled using conventional UWB receiver equipped with a PIN photodiode. Possibilities include: non-invasive biochemical study of soft tissues, non-invasive study of metabolic processes, and IR spectral imaging [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene/fabric composites have shown promise as flexible pressure sensors, the effects of MXene composition and structure on piezoresistive properties and the effects of the textile structure on sensitivity have not been systematically studied. Herein, impregnation at room temperature was used as a cost-effective and scalable method to prepare composite materials using different fabrics [plain-woven fabric, twill-woven fabric, weft plain-knitted fabric, jersey cross-tuck fabric, and nonwoven fabric (NWF)] and MXene nanosheets (Ti 3 C 2 T x , Ti 2 CT x , Ti 3 CNT x , Mo 2 CT x , Nb 2 CT x , and Mo 2 TiC 2 T x ). The MXene nanosheets adhered to the fabric surface through hydrogen bonding, resulting in a conductive network structure. The Ti 3 C 2 T x @NWF composite was found to be the optimal flexible pressure sensor, demonstrating high sensitivity (6.31 kPa -1 ), a wide sensing range (up to 150 kPa), fast response/recovery times (300 ms/260 ms), and excellent durability (2000 cycles). Furthermore, the sensor was successfully used to monitor full-scale human motion, including pulse, and a 4 × 4 pixel flexible sensor array was shown to accurately locate pressure and recognize the pressure magnitude. These findings provide a basis for the rational design of MXene/textile composites as wearable pressure sensors for medical diagnosis, human-computer interactions, and electronic skin applications.

With the rapid development of the electronics, information technology, and wearable devices, problems of the power crisis and electromagnetic radiation pollution have emerged. A piezoelectric wearable textile combined with electromagnetic shielding performance has become a favorable solution. Herein, a multifunctional PVDF-based wearable sensor with both electromagnetic shielding function and human body monitoring performance is proposed by incorporating silver nanowires (Ag NWs) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hybrid-networks into PVDF-casted commercial nonwoven fabrics (NWF). The coordination of Ag NWs and MWCNTs networks ensures the ideal electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. The maximum shielding value of the developed sensor reaches up to 34 dB when the area densities of the Ag NWs and MWCNT are kept at 1.9 and 2.0 mg/cm 2 , respectively. Additionally, the hydrophobicity of the as-proposed sensor (water contact angle of ∼110.0°) ensures the self-cleaning function and makes it resistive against water and dirt. Moreover, the sensor possesses a force-sensing property by generating different piezoelectric voltages (0, 0.4, 1.0, and 1.5 V) when stimulated by various forces (0, 20, 44, and 60 N). Not only can it respond to different external stress in a timely manner (response sensitivity of ∼0.024 V/N, response time of ∼35 ms), but it can also monitor different body movements, such as joint bending, running, and jumping. This work opens up a new prospect of monitoring the human body as well as protecting human health from electromagnetic radiation surroundings.