Machine embroidery of light-emitting textiles with multicolor electroluminescent threads.

Advances in electroluminescent threads, suitable for weaving or knitting, have opened doors for the development of light-emitting textiles, driving growth in the market for flexible and wearable displays. Although direct embroidery of these textiles with custom designs and patterns could offer substantial benefits, the rigorous demands of machine embroidery challenge the integrity of these threads. Here, we present embroiderable multicolor electroluminescent threads-in blue, green, and yellow-that are compatible with standard embroidery machines. These threads can be used to stitch decorative designs onto various consumer fabrics without compromising their wear resistance or light-emitting capabilities. Demonstrations include illuminating specific messages or designs on consumer products and delivering emergency alerts on helmet liners for physical hazards. Our research delivers a comprehensive toolkit for integrating light-emitting textiles into trendy, customized crafts tailored to the unique requirements of diverse flexible and wearable displays.

A machine-learning-enabled smart neckband for monitoring dietary intake.

The increasing need for precise dietary monitoring across various health scenarios has led to innovations in wearable sensing technologies. However, continuously tracking food and fluid intake during daily activities can be complex. In this study, we present a machine-learning-powered smart neckband that features wireless connectivity and a comfortable, foldable design. Initially considered beneficial for managing conditions such as diabetes and obesity by facilitating dietary control, the device's utility extends beyond these applications. It has proved to be valuable for sports enthusiasts, individuals focused on diet control, and general health monitoring. Its wireless connectivity, ergonomic design, and advanced classification capabilities offer a promising solution for overcoming the limitations of traditional dietary tracking methods, highlighting its potential in personalized healthcare and wellness strategies.

In Situ Spray Polymerization of Conductive Polymers for Personalized E-textiles.

E-textiles, also known as electronic textiles, seamlessly merge wearable technology with fabrics, offering comfort and unobtrusiveness and establishing a crucial role in health monitoring systems. In this field, the integration of custom sensor designs with conductive polymers into various fabric types, especially in large areas, has presented significant challenges. Here, we present an innovative additive patterning method that utilizes a dual-regime spray system, eliminating the need for masks and allowing for the programmable inscription of sensor arrays onto consumer textiles. Unlike traditional spray techniques, this approach enables in situ, on-the-fly polymerization of conductive polymers, enabling intricate designs with submillimeter resolution across fabric areas spanning several meters. Moreover, it addresses the nozzle clogging issues commonly encountered in such applications. The resulting e-textiles preserve essential fabric characteristics such as breathability, wearability, and washability while delivering exceptional sensing performance. A comprehensive investigation, combining experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches, was conducted to examine the critical factors influencing the operation of the dual-regime spraying system and its role in e-textile fabrication. These findings provide a flexible solution for producing e-textiles on consumer fabric items and hold significant implications for a diverse range of wearable sensing applications.

Smart Electronic Textiles for Wearable Sensing and Display.

Increasing demand of using everyday clothing in wearable sensing and display has synergistically advanced the field of electronic textiles, or e-textiles. A variety of types of e-textiles have been formed into stretchy fabrics in a manner that can maintain their intrinsic properties of stretchability, breathability, and wearability to fit comfortably across different sizes and shapes of the human body. These unique features have been leveraged to ensure accuracy in capturing physical, chemical, and electrophysiological signals from the skin under ambulatory conditions, while also displaying the sensing data or other immediate information in daily life. Here, we review the emerging trends and recent advances in e-textiles in wearable sensing and display, with a focus on their materials, constructions, and implementations. We also describe perspectives on the remaining challenges of e-textiles to guide future research directions toward wider adoption in practice.

A Programmable Dual-Regime Spray for Large-Scale and Custom-Designed Electronic Textiles.

Increasing demand for wearable healthcare synergistically advances the field of electronic textiles, or e-textiles, allowing for ambulatory monitoring of vital health signals. Despite great promise, the pragmatic deployment of e-textiles in clinical practice remains challenged due to the lack of a method in producing custom-designed e-textiles at high spatial resolution across a large area. To this end, a programmable dual-regime spray that enables the direct custom writing of functional nanoparticles into arbitrary fabrics at sub-millimeter resolution over meter scale is employed. The resulting e-textiles retain the intrinsic fabric properties in terms of mechanical flexibility, water-vapor permeability, and comfort against multiple uses and laundry cycles. The e-textiles tightly fit various body sizes and shapes to support the high-fidelity recording of physiological and electrophysiological signals on the skin under ambulatory conditions. Pilot field tests in a remote health-monitoring setting with a large animal, such as a horse, demonstrate the scalability and utility of the e-textiles beyond conventional devices. This approach will be suitable for the rapid prototyping of custom e-textiles tailored to meet various clinical needs.

Validation of a Novel Wearable Electromyography Patch for Monitoring Submental Muscle Activity During Swallowing: A Randomized Crossover Trial.

Purpose Surface electromyography (sEMG) is often used for biofeedback during swallowing rehabilitation. However, commercially available sEMG electrodes are not optimized for the head and neck area, have rigid form, and are mostly available in large medical centers. We developed an ultrathin, soft, and flexible sEMG patch, specifically designed to conform to the submental anatomy and which will be ultimately incorporated into a telehealth system. To validate this first-generation sEMG patch, we compared its safety, efficiency, and signal quality in monitoring submental muscle activity with that of widely used conventional sEMG electrodes. Method A randomized crossover design was used to compare the experimental sEMG patch with conventional (snap-on) sEMG electrodes. Participants completed the same experimental protocol with both electrodes in counterbalanced order. Swallow trials included five trials of 5- and 10-ml water. Comparisons were made on (a) signal-related factors: signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), baseline amplitude, normalized mean amplitude, and sEMG burst duration and (b) safety/preclinical factors: safety/adverse effects, efficiency of electrode placement, and satisfaction/comfort. Noninferiority and equivalence tests were used to examine signal-related factors. Paired t tests and descriptive statistics were used to examine safety/preclinical factors. Results Forty healthy adults participated (24 women, M age = 67.5 years). Signal-related factors: SNR of the experimental patch was not inferior to the SNR of the conventional electrodes (p < .0056). Similarly, baseline amplitude obtained with the experimental patch was not inferior to that obtained with conventional electrodes (p < .0001). Finally, normalized amplitude values were equivalent across swallows (5 ml: p < .025; 10 ml: p < .0012), and sEMG burst duration was also equivalent (5 ml: p < .0001; 10 ml: p < .0001). Safety/preclinical factors: The experimental patch resulted in fewer mild adverse effects. Participant satisfaction was higher with the experimental patch (p = .0476, d = 0.226). Conclusions Our new wearable sEMG patch is equivalent with widely used conventional sEMG electrodes in terms of technical performance. In addition, our patch is safe, and healthy older adults are satisfied with it. With lessons learned from the current COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to develop optimal swallowing telerehabilitation devices are more urgent than ever. Upon further validation, this new technology has the potential to improve rehabilitation and telerehabilitation efforts for patients with dysphagia. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12915509.