Specialty Fabrics Review August 2019 - 38

One trend we're seeing
is an advancement
towards utilizing 3D
knitted fabrics on
medical products that
incorporate tech into
the knitting and can
monitor a variety of
different vitals.
Don Alhanati,
CustomFab USA

products to be made and shipped to
the patient within 24 hours. For those
suffering from relevant diseases, wearing
such items is a must-do in parallel to their
compression therapy."
INSPIRING NEW THINKING
Legner expects demand for orthopedic
support, compression products and similar
solutions will grow, particularly as obesity
continues to be an issue, and as people age
(also potentially becoming sicker and more
overweight). For example, he explains, too
much weight can stress the joints, causing
wear and tear. Advancing age is often
accompanied by arthritis. Both conditions
can increase the need for orthopedic
support. And certain cancers and cancer

treatments may necessitate the use
of compression garments.
"The majority of such products are
nowadays being used for the treatment
of lymphedema," Legner explains.
"Lymphedema can be inherited or the
result of a cancer treatment, for example,
where the lymphatic nodes have to be
removed, causing the lymphatic system to
have problems. The circulation collapses
and the consequence is the need for
compression therapy."
Lipedema, a condition in which fat
is distributed in an irregular way
underneath the skin, typically in the
buttocks and legs but also in the trunk
of the body and arms, often requires
compression therapy, Legner adds.

WISING UP

WEARABLES

P

rofessor Trisha L. Andrew is associate professor
of chemistry and chemical engineering at UMass
Amherst. Some of the research being conducted
involves smart apparel embedded with self-powered sensors
that can turn ordinary clothing into monitoring devices or
portable power sources. The challenge is to integrate these
features inconspicuously into the clothing without negatively
affecting how the clothes look, feel and function, says Andrew.
"Our lab uses reactive vapor coating to transform commonly
available, mass-produced fabrics, threads or premade garments
into a plethora of comfortable, wearable electronic devices
by directly coating them with uniform and conformal films of
electronically active conjugated polymers," she explains. "We've
used vapor-coated fabrics as electrodes for monitoring heart
rates, respiration, joint motion/flexibility, gait and sleep posture."
Vapor-deposited electronic polymer films offer several
advantages, such as being wash-and-wear stable and having
the capability of withstanding demanding textile manufacturing
processes-qualities that have enabled the lab to create
self-powered garments by using sewing, weaving, knitting
or embroidery procedures, generating "sensitive and reliable
data," Andrew says.

38 REVIEW AUGUST 2019

Ohmatex A/S, headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark, was
founded in 2004 with the objective of "commercializing
research developments and technologies in smart textiles
and wearable electronics," says Christian Dalsgaard, CTO
and founder.
"We integrate electronics in a variety of fabric materials
based on synthetic fibers (nylon, polyester and acrylic), natural
fibers (cotton, etc.), and elastic fibers (elastane)," Dalsgaard
says. "The electronics are incorporated into socks, training
tights, T-shirts, gloves and sleeves. The reason for integrating
textiles is to improve the accuracy of the vital signs, such as
skin temperature, pulse and respiration. Another reason is
to raise the comfort level for the user and to avoid wiring and
adhesive electrodes."
The company has integrated electronics with textiles for a
wide variety of applications, creating wearable physiological
monitoring systems, primarily for the medical/health care
and sports markets. Ohmatex also has a contract with the
European Space Agency to track exercise efficiency on the
International Space Station.
Specialty Fabrics Review August 2019

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