The work presented herein addresses the development, implementation, and evaluation of a new wearable system for monitoring bio-signals and physical human activity, namely for gait analysis and cardiovascular surveillance. It consists of a wearable textile substrate (pantyhose and/or T-shirt) with embedded conductive yarns interconnecting custom electronic devices, in a mesh or other network type, that acquire biosignals and/or inertial data. All data are aggregated in a central processing module from where they are sent via a wireless link to a mobile phone or personal computer for final processing. The network topology, sensor nodes architecture and results obtained with first prototypes are presented.

In this article we present a smart textile system for the continuous monitoring of cardiorespiratory signals, produced and integrated with an industrial embroidery unit. The design of a T-shirt system, having embedded textile sensors and interconnects and custom designed circuit for data collection and Bluetooth transmission is presented. The performance of skin-contact textile electrodes, having distinctive electrical characteristics and surface morphologies, was characterized by measurements of signal to noise ratio, under dry and moisture conditions. The influence of the electrodes size and the wear resistance were addressed. Results of an electrocardiogram acquisition with a subject wearing the T-shirt and display on a smartphone are also shown. The presented smart textile systems exhibit good performance and versatility for custom demand production.

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James One (MindProber Labs) is a wireless psychophysiological device comprising two sensors: one measuring electrodermal activity (EDA), the other photoplethysmography (PPG). This paper reports the validation of James One’s EDA sensor by comparing its signal against a research grade polygraph. Twenty participants were instructed to perform breathing exercises to elicit the modulation of EDA and heart rate, while the physiological signal was captured simultaneously on James One and a Biopac MP36. The resulting EDA and PPG records collected from both systems were comprehensively compared. Results suggest that James One captures EDA signal with a quality comparable to a research grade equipment, this constituting a reliable means of capturing data while minimizing setup time and intrusiveness.