Medical Design Briefs - August 2021 - 48

The rigidity of typical waterproof garments
and their reduced breathability
make them feel uncomfortable after
being worn for a few hours.
" Thanks
to their ultrathin coating,
our smart clothes remain as flexible,
stretchable, and breathable as conventional
cotton T-shirts, " Martinez says.
Unlike common wearables, the
Purdue smart clothes do not require
batteries for powering. By simply harvesting
energy from Wi-Fi or radio waves
in the environment, the clothes are
capable of powering the circuitry sewn
on the textile.
A coating of fluorinated molecules is coated onto breathable and waterproof smart clothes to repel
stains and withstand cleaning in conventional washing machines. (Credit: Purdue University
photo/Rebecca McElhoe)
One example is a battery-free glove
that illuminates its fingertips every time
the user is near a live cable to warn
about the possibility of an electric shock.
Another is a miniaturized cardiac monitoring
system sewn on a washable sweatband
capable of monitoring the health
status of the wearer.
" Such wearable devices, powered by
ubiquitous Wi-Fi signals, will make us
not only think of clothing as just a garment
that keeps us warm but also as
wearable tools designed to help us in
our daily life, monitor our health and
protect us from accidents, " Martinez
says. " I envision smart clothes will be
able to transmit information about the
posture and motion of the wearer to
mobile apps, allowing machines to
understand human intent without the
need of other interfaces, expanding the
way we communicate, interact with de -
vices, and play video games. "
This technology can be fabricated in
conventional, large-scale sewing facilities,
which are expected to accelerate
the development and commercialization
of future smart clothes.
The fingertips of a wireless voltage detection glove illuminates when the wearer's hand approaches
a live cable. (Credit: Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)
over your closet yet is that the fabrication
of this smart clothing is quite challenging,
as clothes need to be periodically
washed and electronics despise water.
Purdue engineers have developed a
new spray/sewing method to transform
any conventional cloth items into battery-free
wearables that can be cleaned
in the washing machine.
" By spray-coating smart clothes with
highly hydrophobic molecules, we are
48
Intro
Cov
able to render them repellent to water,
oil, and mud, " says Ramses Martinez, an
assistant professor in Purdue's School of
Industrial Engineering and in the Weldon
School of Biomedical Engineering in
Purdue's College of Engineering. " These
smart clothes are almost impossible to
stain and can be used underwater and
washed in conventional washing ma -
chines without damaging the electronic
components sewn on their surface. "
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A paper about the technology was
published in Nano Energy.1 Martinez's
laboratory group has several videos
about the technology on its dedicated
YouTube channel. He and his team have
worked with the Purdue Research
Foundation Office of Technology Com -
mercialization to protect the intellectual
property. The innovations are patent
pending.
Reference
1. Marina Sala de Medeiros, et al., " Washable,
Breathable, and Stretchable e-Textiles
Wirelessly Powered by Omniphobic Silkbased
Coils, " Nano Energy, May 25, 2021.
For more information, visit www.purdue.edu.
For information on licensing a Purdue innovation,
contact the Office of Technology
Commercialization at otcip@prf.org.
Medical Design Briefs, August 2021
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Medical Design Briefs - August 2021

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