Papers by Author: Jean Luprano

Abstract: Interactive textiles have the capability to interact with the user, which means they embed sensors, local intelligence and actuators to achieve this goal. This interactivity requires to dispose of smart textiles, made of smart materials, completing the often used wording “Smart fabrics and interactive textiles” or SFIT. The term smart is used to refer to materials that sense and respond in a pre-defined way to environmental stimuli. Heath monitoring is an important field of application for smart textiles. Results and sometimes products such as shirts measuring electrocardiogram, respiration or body temperature have been achieved and are examples of state-of-the-art from the monitoring point-of-view. Making use and combining these signals to derive higher-level information and to provide feed-back in a comprehensive way to the user or to a caregiver are the starting point to interactivity. Sometimes, the textile provides itself interactivity; more often it is combined with discrete electronics and sometimes organic electronics. The convergence between textiles, smart materials and information technology is explored in the case of health monitoring. Several projects and their results are used to illustrate the progress in the field.

Abstract: Continuous health monitoring often requires hospitalization, which can become an expensive and inconvenient choice for the patient. In this perspective, wearable sensors that allow in situ biosensing constitute a very promising technology. This work aims to develop immunosensors for continuous monitoring of the wound healing process, based on pH changes, as well as on the concentrations of inflammatory proteins such as the C-reactive protein (CRP). Sensing principles include the use of responsive hydrogels that swell in response to changes in the surroundings, and the use of functional surfaces that specifically recognize the target protein. The detection principle is based on an optical signal, using the evanescent field of light propagating along a waveguide, probing refractive index changes. An optical sensing system that can be integrated in a wound dressing patch has been designed, including a white light source (LED), and a spectrometer for detection. The sensor was successfully tested in the laboratory with biological samples (blood serum), demonstrating reversible pH measurements between pH 6-8, and detection of changes in the concentration of CRP between 1 and 100 μg/ml. The sensor will later be integrated into wound dressings or bandages, forming a sensing patch that is connected via optical fibres and electrical wires to the detection system and power supply. This novel technology will be particularly valuable in applications such as the supervision of skin grafts and ulcer treatments.

Abstract: The commercial systems using intelligent textiles that start to appear on the market perform physiological measurements such as body temperature, electrocardiogram, respiration rate, etc. and target sport and healthcare applications. Biochemical measurements of body fluids combined with available health monitoring technology will extend these systems by addressing important health and safety issues. BIOTEX, standing for Bio-sensing Textile for Health Management, is a European project, which aims at developing dedicated biochemical sensing techniques that can be integrated into textiles. Such a system would be a major breakthrough for personalized healthcare and would allow for the first time the monitoring of body fluids with sensors distributed in a textile substrate. The potential applications include isolated people, convalescents and patients with chronic diseases, sports performance assessment and training. The project is addressing several challenges, among which: sweat collection and delivery to the sensors, high sensitivity with a wearable system, wearability issues, sensor calibration and lack of research in sweat analysis.