Intelligent fabrics may soon monitor medical conditions and improve sports results, writes Dick Ahlstrom
You have heard of smart people and smart looks but how about smart clothes? The newest designs might be able to improve your golf game, teach you Tai Chi or oversee your sports training.
Prof Danilo De Rossi of the University of Pisa is an expert in the development of smart clothing, garments that provide useful information while you wear them. He hopes to win a Science Foundation Ireland funded ETS Walton Visitor Award for 2007-08 that will link him up with smart clothes researchers at DCU's Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC).
Prof De Rossi is well aware of the work being done on intelligent fabrics at DCU. "We have met at conferences in the USA and Europe and I already had a collaboration with DCU," says Prof De Rossi, who is on a visit to Dublin to prepare his Walton application.
There is huge potential for these intelligent textiles which combine comfortable, stylish clothing with hidden electronics, explains Prof De Rossi.
They work by blending ordinary textile threads with special polymers fibres that exploit "piezo resistance". A current is passed through and sensors can detect changes in electrical resistance along the polymer fibres as they are stretched.
His research in Pisa focuses on three areas. One is the development of "artificial muscles", polymer fibres that contract in response to an electric current.
Another relates to "biomimetic robotics". This intriguing research aims to produce a wholly new kind of medical therapy for children with autism. Special robots are fitted with artificial muscles and other smart materials that allow them to produce human-like faces.
Autistic children generally don't recognise and respond properly to ordinary facial gestures, but they may be able to learn this skill if trained and so interact better with those around them. "The children don't relate well with humans but might do better with a robot," says Prof De Rossi. The robots would produce faces conveying happiness or anger, and the child can learn the meaning of the gesture.
Sport is another key area of interest for Prof De Rossi. His research proposal, which if successful would see him spend seven months at DCU from next May, involves the development of new, more sensitive smart clothes.
These would be expected to provide live biometric data on heart rate, blood pressure and dermal conductivity, but also monitor body movement and orientation. The clothing would relay real-time information about arm, leg and body position and allow comparison with optimal body movement, say for golf or tennis or other sports, he explains.
The challenge is to produce smart fabrics that respond quickly and produce meaningful signals that give useful information, says Prof De Rossi.
"The object is to provide a new generation of garment that will provide essential biometrics combined with motion complexes in order to recognise gesture and posture," he explains.
"We are using ordinary materials, all textiles that can be used by the textile industry. Some of the existing materials are too slow for sport. We can use them with the elderly but we want to use these with sports."
He has two prototype garments and would work with the AIC under the Walton Fellowship to improve performance and speed up the relay of information from the garment.
It is essential that the smart fabric in no way impedes the wearer's motion. It must also be just as comfortable as ordinary sports garments, he says.
Monitoring real-time motion is no easy matter and can be difficult to map. Prof De Rossi believes he has a way around the speed and accuracy problems by placing sensors along the body's "Langer Lines".
These relate to tissue structures that underlie the skin and help define the natural orientation of a person's own movements. "We try to locate the sensors along the Langer Lines on a personal basis," says Prof De Rossi.
A fully functioning smart sports garment would use a tiny radio transmitter to relay back live data about respiration, metabolism and movement. In sport it could be very useful for training and coaching but also in injury prevention and injury recovery.
There are many other uses, Prof De Rossi adds. Such a garment could be used in "telerehabilitation" where a remote clinician could monitor the movements of a patient undergoing physiotherapy or rehabilitative training.
It could also be a powerful tool for patients with profound spinal injuries. Not all patients with loss of motor response have enough movement left to control a motorised wheelchair, he says.
Yet many quadriplegics retain some residual movement in the neck or shoulders. A smart garment could interpret these movements to direct a wheelchair or control other facets of their lives, he believes.
"We try to exploit what nature has left them."