TecInTex: Technology Integration into Textiles: Empowering Health and Security
Project Leader: Gerhard Tröster of ETHZ/D-ITET/IFE +41 44 632 39 64
Manfred Heuberger of EMPA St Gall/MSPWHB, expert in Advanced Fibers
Jean Luprano of CSEM, expert in Wearable Systems for Biosensors
Stéphanie Pasche of CSEM/Nanotechnology & Life Sciences, expert in biosensing
Rene Rossi of EMPA St Gall/Schutz, expert in Textile Materials and Fabrics
Martin Wolf of University Hospital of Zurich/Neonatology/BORL, ETHZ/NCZ, expert in Miniaturised systems for the life sciences. clinical trial in NIRS Spectrophotometry
Future personal mobile systems consist of a communication and computing hub . e.g. a Smart Phone . which ensures the continuous and online connectivity. The personalization of this communication node requires the connection to sensing capabilities close to the human body, which detect the user.s context, be it the activity, motion, health or the mental and social behavior. In that spirit, an increasing variety of wearable functionality is being developed and demonstrated worldwide. However, in the textile sector, the actual breakthrough of these novel technologies is absent due to a general lack of compatibility of conventional electric, electronic and sensory devices with textile processing procedures and textile wearability. Indeed, existing e-textiles usually integrate state-of-the-art electronic devices into clothing, inducing many limitations like restricted flexibility, washability and comfort.
TecInTex addresses these issues by developing the necessary basic fiber and textile technology, at the nanometer and micrometer scale, that will provide the highly needed full integration of novel functionalities into truly wearable clothes without compromise on textile properties. The key elements include electronic and optical fibers, sensor yarns, transducers between electrical and optical signals, sensor stripes and functionalized fabrics.
The expected results cover a family of new sensorized and functional fibers, which will allow in situ measurements of body functions and biological species in body proximity, approved fabrication processes and working prototypes dedicated to health care, rehabilitation and prevention. One tremendous and growing market for these textiles is health care. Two demonstrators for wearable biosensing will be developed under the leadership of the Swiss Paraplegic Center and the University Hospital of Zurich. The TecInTex mission will be concentrate specifically on two demonstrators in the health care domain. The active NIRS sock is a wearable near infrared spectroscopy device which allows to monitor tissue oxygenation in the muscle continuously and non-invasively for the early detection of peripheral vascular disease. Another application is the intelligent underwear for paraplegic people, which allows the detection of pressure ulcers, an open skin lesion affecting bed-ridden patients.
Flexible polymer optical fibres for biosensing with textiles Bastien Schyrr, Stéphanie Pasche, Emmanuel Scolan, Réal Ischer, Damien Ferrario, Jacques-André Porchet, Guy Voirin, Evren Aslan-Gürel, L. Gottardo, Marek Krehel, Rene M. Rossi, Lukas J. Scherer
Notable Publications
Encapsulation for Flexible Electronic Devices Thomas Kinkeldei, Niko Münzenrieder, Christoph Zysset, Kunigunde Cherenack and Gerhard Tröster IEEE Electron Device Letters (0, 2011)
Indium-gallium-zinc-oxide based mechanically flexible transimpedance amplifier C. Zysset, N.S. Münzenrieder, T. Kinkeldei, K.H. Cherenack, G. Tröster, Electronics Letters, (0, 2011)
Integration method for electronics in woven textiles C. Zysset, T. Kinkeldei, N.S. Münzenrieder, K.H. Cherenack, G. Tröster, IEEE Transactions on Advanced Packaging. (0, 2011)
Designing micro-patterned Ti films that survive up to 10% applied tensile strain N. Woo, K. H. Cherenack, R. Spolenak and G. Tröster Applied Physics A, (0, 2010)
Impact of Mechanical Bending on ZnO and IGZO Thin film Transistors K. H. Cherenack, N. Münzenrieder and G. Tröster, IEEE Electron. Dev. Lett., accepted for publication, (8, 2010)
Influence of residual oils on the adhesion of metal coatings to textiles Amberg, M.; Kasdallah, C.; Ritter, A.; Hegemann, D. Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology (0, 2010)
Optical Fiber Fabrics for Illumination and Sensorial Applications in Textiles B. Selm, E. Aslan Gürel, M. Rothmaier, R. M. Rossi, L. J. Scherer, J. Int. Mat. Sys. Struct., (0, 2010)
Woven electronic fibres with sensing and display functions for smart textiles K. H. Cherenack, C. Zysset, T. Kinkeldei, N. Münzenrieder and G. Tröster, ‘ Advanced Materials, (9, 2010)
Woven thin-film metal interconnects K. H. Cherenack, T. Kinkeldei, C. Zysset and G. Tröster, IEEE Electron. Dev. Lett., (0, 2010)
