Textile moisture sensor matrix for monitoring of disabled and bed-rest patients

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a moisture sensor matrix based on textile materials provided with conductive yarns. The measurement principle is based on the measurement of electrical resistance of the textile. The main purpose of this work is to support research on the prevention of pressure ulcers in people committed to bed rest or using wheelchairs. In the first stage of development, the project is studying the relation between physical parameters, exposure time and the levels of discomfort and pain experienced by the patients. In a later stage, the underlying measurement and evaluation principles will be used to develop single sensors or sensor matrixes to be connected to active patient monitoring systems able to warn in situations of excess of moisture and/or pressure (produced by sweat, open wounds, incontinence, etc.).

Approaches that use software to support the prevention of pressure ulcer: A systematic review

“…For monitoring the patient's body temperature and humidity, all approaches use sensors installed in the mattress which are capable of measuring the intensity of temperature or humidity. Seven approaches perform monitoring of temperature [32,7,16,6,18,17,12] and four of them perform the monitoring of moisture [35,7,6,30]. The technologies used to monitor risk factors and the amount of approaches that employ them are shown in Fig.…”

“…The closer the color is to red, the higher is the intensity at a given point. Only one approach provides temperature intensity maps [12] and one of them provides humidity intensity maps [30].…”

Health monitoring using textile sensors and electrodes: An overview and integration of technologies

“…Based on this principle, moisture sensors have been developed in previous work to measure the approximate content and distribution of moisture in an area of a cushion or mattress [20]. The measurement is based on two layers of striped fabric which has been woven alternating cotton yarn with electrical conductive yarns and wires.…”

“…Electrodes for physiological signal sensing, such as ECG, EMG or skin impedance have been developed and demonstrated in other work [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Moisture sensing using textiles has been proposed in [20]. In this work, a review of the above mentioned technologies is given, in the perspective of application in a new context.…”

Elektronik Tekstillere Yönelik Akıllı Kumaş Sensörleri

“…İlki iletkenliğini değiştirerek nem değişimine tepki verirken, ikincisi dielektrik sabitini değiş-tirerek su buharına tepki vermektedir [113]. İletken polimerik esaslı nem sensörleri; PEDOT-PSS/PAN nanolifler [114], PEDOT-PSS/poliimid, PEDOT-PSS/likra tactel [49] ve PPy [115], elektriksel iletkenliklerini değiştirerek nem değişiklikle-rine tepki vermektedir.…”