title: Body-monitoring with photonic textiles: a reflective heartbeat sensor based on polymer optical fibres.
abstract: Knowledge of an individual's skin condition is important for pressure ulcer prevention. Detecting early changes in skin through perfusion, oxygen saturation values, and pressure on tissue and subsequent therapeutic intervention could increase patients' quality of life drastically. However, most existing sensing options create additional risk of ulcer development due to further pressure on and chafing of the skin. Here, as a first component, we present a flexible, photonic textile-based sensor for the continuous monitoring of the heartbeat and blood flow. Polymer optical fibres (POFs) are melt-spun continuously and characterized optically and mechanically before being embroidered. The resulting sensor shows flexibility when embroidered into a moisture-wicking fabric, and withstands disinfection with hospital-type laundry cycles. Additionally, the new sensor textile shows a lower static coefficient of friction (COF) than conventionally used bedsheets in both dry and sweaty conditions versus a skin model. Finally, we demonstrate the functionality of our sensor by measuring the heartbeat at the forehead in reflection mode and comparing it with commercial finger photoplethysmography for several subjects. Our results will allow the development of flexible, individualized, and fully textile-integrated wearable sensors for sensitive skin conditions and general long-term monitoring of patients with risk for pressure ulcer.
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland.|Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Gloriastrasse 35, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Brit M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1553-6655
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Quandt
authors.affiliation: CSEM, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, Rue Jaquet-Droz 1, 2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: CSEM, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, Rue Jaquet-Droz 1, 2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferrario
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: René M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Swiss Paraplegic Center, Guido A. Zäch Strasse 1, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scheel-Sailer
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory, Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 10, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland.|Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Gloriastrasse 35, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gian-Luca
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bona
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hufenus
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lukas J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland luciano.boesel@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Luciano F
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4481-9651
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Boesel
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D055100:Optical Fibers; D012867:Skin
keywords: biomedical optics; long-term monitoring; melt-spinning; photoplethysmography; polymer optical fibres