Background:

Abstract-Textile-based sensors offer an unobtrusive method of continually monitoring physiological parameters during daily activities. Chemical analysis of body fluids, noninvasively, is a novel and exciting area of personalized wearable healthcare systems. BIOTEX was an EU-funded project that aimed to develop textile sensors to measure physiological parameters and the chemical composition of body fluids, with a particular interest in sweat. A wearable sensing system has been developed that integrates a textile-based fluid handling system for sample collection and transport with a number of sensors including sodium, conductivity, and pH sensors. Sensors for sweat rate, ECG, respiration, and blood oxygenation were also developed. For the first time, it has been possible to monitor a number of physiological parameters together with sweat composition in real time. This has been carried out via a network of wearable sensors distributed around the body of a subject user. This has huge implications for the field of sports and human performance and opens a whole new field of research in the clinical setting. F. Di Francesco is with the Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy (e-mail: fdifra@dcci.unipi.it).D. Costanzo and M. G. Trivella are with the Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pisa 56100, Italy (e-mail: costanzo.daniele@ libero.it; trivella@ifc.cnr.it).P. Salvo and D. E. De Rossi are with the Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca "E. Piaggio," Università di Pisa 56100, Italy (e-mail: psalvo@ifc.cnr.it; d.derossi@ing.unipi.it).N. Taccini and R. Paradiso are with Smartex s.r

Introduction: Home-based programmes for cardiac rehabilitation play a key role in the recovery of patients with Coronary Artery Disease. However, their necessary educational and motivational components have been rarely implemented with the help of modern mobile technologies. We developed a mobile health system designed for motivating patients to adhere to their rehabilitation programme by providing exercise monitoring, guidance, motivational feedback, and educational content. Methods: Our multi-disciplinary approach is based on mapping "desired behaviours" into specific system's specifications, borrowing concepts from Fogg's Persuasive Systems Design principles. A randomised controlled trial was conducted to compare mobile-based rehabilitation (55 patients) versus standard care (63 patients). Results: Some technical issues related to connectivity, usability and exercise sessions interrupted by safety algorithms affected the trial. For those who completed the rehabilitation (19 of 55), results show high levels of both user acceptance and perceived usefulness. Adherence in terms of started exercise sessions was high, but not in terms of total time of performed exercise or drop-outs. Educational level about heart-related health improved more in the intervention group than the control. Exercise habits at 6 months follow-up also improved, although without statistical significance. Discussion: Results indicate that the adopted design methodology is promising for creating applications that help improve education and foster better exercise habits, but further studies would be needed to confirm these indications.

Abstract-Sweat analysis can provide a valuable insight into a person's well-being. Here we present wearable textile-based sensors that can provide real-time information regarding sweat activity. A pH sensitive dye incorporated into a fabric fluidic system is used to determine sweat pH. To detect the onset of sweat activity a sweat rate sensor is incorporated into a textile substrate. The sensors are integrated into a waistband and controlled by a central unit with wireless connectivity. The use of such sensors for sweat analysis may provide valuable physiological information for applications in sports performance and also in healthcare.

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