Smart Materials for Wearable Healthcare Devices

Abstract

Wearable devices seem to have great potential that could result in a revolutionary nonclinical approach to health monitoring and diagnosing disease. With continued innovation and intensive attention to the materials and fabrication technologies, development of these healthcare devices is progressively encouraged. This chapter gives a concise review of some of the main concepts and approaches related to recent advances and developments in the scope of wearable devices from the perspective of emerging materials. A complementary section of the review linking these advanced materials with wearable device technologies is particularly specified. Some of the strong and weak points in development of each wearable material/device are clearly highlighted and criticized. Wearable Technologies 110 a N.M. = Not mentioned. b MWCNT/PVBC-Et 3 N = Multi-wall carbon nanotubes/poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) derivative with triethylamine. c MWCNT/SEB = Multi-wall carbon nanotubes/poly(styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene). d GNWS/PDMS = Graphene nanowalls/polydimethylsiloxane. e Ni-filled PEO/PE = Ni-filled polyethylene oxide/polyethylene. f R-GO/PU = Reduced graphene oxide/polyurethane. g (VDF-TrFE)/BaTiO 3 = Poly(vinylidenefluoride-trifluoro-ethylene)/BaTiO 3 .Table 2. Performance of typical examples in measuring epidermal temperature.

Challenges and Opportunities for Use of Smart Materials in Designing Assistive Technology Products with, and for Older Adults

“…There is increasing attention to the development of smart wearable healthcare devices with textile-based electronics and sensor fabrication (Gonc¸alves et al 2018). This presents great potential for health monitoring and diagnostics as well as preventative and self-management approaches to health care (Jin, Jin, and Jian 2018). For example, monitoring daily activity patterns and frailty using smart wearable technologies can provide more accurate and up-to-date assessments of physical health and enable personalized, tailored care (Armstrong, Najafi, and Shahinpoor 2017).…”

MXene-based Sensors for Detecting Human Physiological Information

“…(58) In contrast to traditional noninvasive methodologies such as X-ray or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), noninvasive diagnosis by wearable health devices enables the possibility of remote and continuous healthcare monitoring and disease diagnosis in a nonclinical setting. (59) Wearable healthcare devices are becoming smaller and mobile, and they are usually in the form of smart wristbands, watches, shirts, shoes, headbands, eyeglasses, and necklaces. (58)(59)(60) Most wearable healthcare devices contain the technologies of sensors, chips, wireless communication, and intelligent interaction to detect vital physiological information such as pressure, heartbeat, temperature, glucose, and breath.…”

“…(59) Wearable healthcare devices are becoming smaller and mobile, and they are usually in the form of smart wristbands, watches, shirts, shoes, headbands, eyeglasses, and necklaces. (58)(59)(60) Most wearable healthcare devices contain the technologies of sensors, chips, wireless communication, and intelligent interaction to detect vital physiological information such as pressure, heartbeat, temperature, glucose, and breath. (61) To date, most wearable health devices for elderly people have been utilized in health monitoring, safety monitoring, home rehabilitation, medical efficacy evaluation, and early disease detection.…”

“…Jin et al pointed out that smart materials for wearable healthcare devices should adapt to the limitation of physiological signal detection within the human body, be highly sensitive to subtle changes in physiological indices, and be compatible with human skin. (59) In research on factors that influence the acceptance of smart wearable healthcare devices involving 160 Chinese people over 60 years old, most respondents suggested that wearable healthcare devices should be lighter, smaller, elegantly designed, waterproof, and easy to put on and take off. (63) Puri et al assessed the acceptance and usage of wearable activity trackers in Canadian community-dwelling older adults.…”

Wearable Devices and their Implementation in Various Domains

“…Recent emergence of new materials accelerates the development of non-invasive skin-based wearable devices [10], which are expected to be compatible with human skin: flexible, stretchable and less irritating, and comply with: sensitivity to changes in body temperature, changes in the body and an adequate detection limit. Following are several examples of skin-based devices in healthcare applications: predicting a sudden attack and providing the means to cope with it; detecting genetic cancer syndromes or rapid changes in heart-beat rate; early evidence of vascular events; detecting abnormal respiration rate; monitoring body temperature and biosensing clothing.…”