BIOSENSING TEXTILE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME

Abstract

The method comprises providing a textile patch (103) comprising a biosensing unit (101a, b). The method comprises providing a controller (105) for controlling the biosensing unit (101a,b) ono a surface of the textile patch (103). The method comprises attaching the textile patch (103) to a textile panel (107) to form the biosensing textile. The controller (105) is sandwiched between the textile patch (103) and the textile panel (107). The textile panel (107) may be attached to the inside of a garment (200). A garment and textile panel are also provided.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a biosensing textile, the method comprising: providing a textile patch comprising a biosensing unit; attaching the textile patch to a textile panel to form the biosensing textile; and providing a controller for controlling the biosensing unit on a surface of the textile patch, wherein the controller is sandwiched between the textile patch and the textile panel.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein providing the controller on a surface of the textile patch comprises forming a conductive connection between the controller and an electrode.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein providing the textile patch comprising the biosensing unit comprises attaching the biosensing unit to a first surface of the textile patch, and wherein providing the controller comprises providing the controller on a second surface of the textile patch opposing the first surface of the textile patch such that the biosensing unit and the controller are located on opposing sides of the textile patch.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the biosensing unit is integral with the textile patch.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the biosensing unit is formed of one or more fibres of the textile patch.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein attaching the textile patch to the textile panel comprises welding the textile patch to the textile panel.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein attaching the textile patch to the textile panel comprises adhering the textile patch to the textile panel.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein attaching the textile patch to the textile panel comprises stitching the textile patch of the textile panel.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the textile patch comprises one or more recesses arranged to receive conductive components.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the textile patch is a fabric patch, and optionally wherein the textile panel is a fabric panel.

11. A biosensing textile, comprising: a textile patch comprising a biosensing unit; a controller for controlling the biosensing unit, wherein the controller is provided on a surface of the textile patch; a textile panel, wherein the textile panel is attached to the textile patch to form the biosensing textile, and wherein the controller is sandwiched between the textile patch and the textile panel.

12. The biosensing textile as claimed in claim 11, wherein the controller is electrically connected to the biosensing unit by a conductive material that extends through the textile patch.

13. The biosensing textile as claimed in claim 12, wherein the biosensing unit is attached to a first surface of the textile patch, and wherein the controller is provided on a second surface of the textile patch opposing the first surface of the textile patch such that the biosensing unit and the controller are located on opposing sides of the textile patch.

14. The biosensing textile as claimed in claim 12, wherein the biosensing unit is adhered to the textile patch.

15. The biosensing textile as claimed in claim 12, wherein the textile patch comprises one or more recesses arranged to receive conductive components.

16. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein providing the textile patch comprising the biosensing unit comprises attaching the biosensing unit to a first surface of the textile patch, and wherein providing the controller comprises providing the controller on a second surface of the textile patch opposing the first surface of the textile patch such that the biosensing unit and the controller are located on opposing sides of the textile patch.

17. The biosensing textile as claimed in claim 13, wherein the biosensing unit is attached to a first surface of the textile patch, and wherein the controller is provided on a second surface of the textile patch opposing the first surface of the textile patch such that the biosensing unit and the controller are located on opposing sides of the textile patch.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] Examples of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0058] FIGS. 1A-1E shows a series of views representing stages by which an example biosensing textile is formed and attached to a garment;

[0059] FIG. 2 shows a side view of biosensing textile attached to a garment as shown in FIG. 1E;

[0060] FIG. 3 shows a front view of an example textile patch according to aspects of the present disclosure;

[0061] FIGS. 4A-4D shows a series of views representing stages by which an example biosensing textile is formed and attached to a garment;

[0062] FIG. 5 shows a side view of biosensing textile attached to a garment as shown in FIG. 4D; and

[0063] FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of an example biosensing garment according to aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0065] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0066] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0067] Referring to FIGS. 1A to 1E, there is shown a series of views showing stages by which an example biosensing textile 100 is formed and attached to a garment 200 according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 1A, there is shown a biosensing unit in the form of an electrode 101a, 101b. The following examples all refer to biosensing units in the form of electrodes, but the present invention is not limited to this arrangement and other forms of biosensing unit may be used in the aspects of the present disclosure. The electrode 101a, 101b comprises a first electrical contact 101a and a second electrical contact 101b. The first and second electrical contacts 101a, 101b are arranged as concentering rings.

[0069] Referring to FIG. 1B, there is shown a textile patch 103 on which the electrode 101a, 101b is provided. The electrode 101a, 101b is provided on a first surface of the textile patch 103.

[0070] Referring to FIG. 1C, there is shown a controller 105 for controlling the electrode 101a, 101b. The controller 105 is provided on the textile patch 103 and, in particular, is provided on a second surface of the textile patch 103 that is opposite to the first surface of the textile patch 103 on which the electrode 101a, 101b is provided. Conducting studs extend through the textile patch 103 to connect the controller 105 to the electrode 101a, 101b. In this way, the controller 105 is conductively connected to the electrode 101a, 101b for controlling the electrode 101a, 101b and the controller 105 and the electrode 101a, 101b are attached to the textile patch 103.

[0071] Referring to FIG. 1D, there is shown a textile panel 107 on which the textile patch 103 is provided to thus form the biosensing textile 100. The textile patch 103 is welded onto the textile panel 107. Welding the textile patch 103 onto the textile panel 107 involves applying heat and pressure to join the textile patch 103 to the textile panel 107. In other examples, adhesive may be used to join the textile patch 103 to the textile panel 107 or the textile patch 103 may be stitched or otherwise joined to the textile panel 107.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 1E, there is shown the biosensing textile 100 attached to a garment 200. The biosensing textile 100 is attached to the inside surface of the garment 200.

[0073] Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a side view of the garment 200 and biosensing textile 100 as shown in FIG. 1E. In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the controller 105 and the electrode 101a,b are positioned on opposite sides of the textile patch 103 and are connected together via conductive studs 111a, 111b that project through the textile patch 103. The textile patch 103 is welded onto the textile panel 107 and the textile panel 107 is attached to the garment 200. In this way, the biosensing textile 100 is attached to the inside surface 201 of the garment 200 opposite to the outside surface 203 of the garment 200. In this way, the biosensing textile 100 is disposed inside the garment 200. The electrode 101a, 101b is positioned on the inner surface of the biosensing textile 100 such that the electrode 101a, 101b is furthest away from the garment 200. This means that, when worn, the electrode 101a, 101b is proximate to and may be in contact with the body surface.

[0074] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown another example of a textile patch 103. In this example, the textile patch 103 comprises recesses 113 through which electronic components such as conductors may pass through to connect the controller 105 (FIG. 2) to the electrode 101a, 101b (FIG. 2).

[0075] Referring to FIGS. 4A to 4D, there is shown a series of views showing stages by which an example biosensing textile 300 is formed and attached to a garment 200 according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0076] Referring to FIG. 4A, there is shown an electrode 301. The electrode 301 is formed of a conductive textile patch 301. That is, the electrode 301 is an electrode textile patch 301. The electrode textile patch 301 may have recesses similar to the recesses shown in the textile patch of FIG. 3 to allow conductive components to pass through the electrode textile patch 301.

[0077] Referring to FIG. 4B, there is shown a controller 303 for controlling the electrode 301 The controller 303 is provided on a surface of the electrode textile patch 301. Conductive pins or other conductive elements are used to attach the controller 303 to the electrode textile patch 301 and maintain the controller 303 in conductive communication with the electrode textile patch 301. In other examples, the controller 303 may be adhesively attached to the electrode textile patch 301. In other examples, the controller 303 may be stitched to the electrode textile patch 301 with conductive thread so as to join and electrically connect the controller 303 to the electrode textile patch 301. A circuit board of the controller 303 may have apertures through which the conductive thread may pass to join the controller 303 to the electrode textile patch 301.

[0078] Referring to FIG. 4C, there is shown a textile panel 305 on which the electrode textile patch 301 is provided to thus form the biosensing textile 300. The electrode textile patch 301 is welded onto the textile panel 305. In other examples, adhesive may be used to join the textile patch 301 to the textile panel 305 or the textile patch 301 may be stitched or otherwise joined to the textile panel 305.

[0079] Referring to FIG. 4D, there is shown the biosensing textile 300 attached to a garment 200. The biosensing textile 300 is attached to the inside surface of the garment 200.

[0080] Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a side view of the garment 200 and biosensing textile 300 as shown in FIG. 4D. In FIG. 5, it can be seen that the controller 303 is sandwiched between the electrode textile patch 301 and the textile panel 305. The textile patch 301 is welded onto the textile panel 305 and the textile panel 305 is attached to the garment 200. In this way, the biosensing textile 300 is attached to the inside surface 201 of the garment 200 opposite to the outside surface 203 of the garment 200. In this way, the biosensing textile 300 is disposed inside the garment 200. The electrode textile patch 301 is positioned on the inner surface of the biosensing textile 300 such that the electrode 301 is furthest away from the garment 200. This means that, when worn, the electrode 301 is proximate to and may be in contact with the body surface.

[0081] Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a simplified sectional view of a biosensing garment 400 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The biosensing garment 400 comprises a garment 200 in the form of a T-shirt 200. The T-shirt 200 comprises a main body, a left sleeve, a right sleeve, and a collar. The T-shirt 200 is a free-form garment. By this it is meant that the T-shirt 200 is loose, not skin-tight, and not a compression garment.

[0082] The biosensing garment 400 comprises biosensing textile 100, 300 (FIG. 2, FIG. 5) disposed within the garment 200. The biosensing textile 100, 300 is not visible from the outside of the garment 200 and thus does not or does not significantly affect the external appearance of the garment 200.

[0083] The biosensing textile 100, 300 comprises a textile panel 107, 305. A first end region of the panel 107, 305 is attached to the garment 200 while the remaining portions of the panel 107, 305 are not attached to the garment 200. This means that while the first end region of the panel 107, 305 is not able to move relative to the garment 200, the remaining regions of the panel 107, 305 are able to move relative to the garment 200. The biosensing textile 100, 300 is therefore able to move freely relative to the garment 200. The panel 107, 305 does not pull on the garment 200 when the wearer moves. This means that the panel 107, 305 does limit the wearer's mobility and does not affect the outward appearance of the garment 200.

[0084] In the example of FIG. 6, the first end region is the top end region of the panel 107, 305 that is attached to the shoulder region and part of the collar region of the garment 200. The remaining portions of the panel 107, 305 are not connected to the garment 200. In this example, the bottom end region and the side regions are free ends, i.e. they are not attached to the garment 200. Beneficially, this means that the panel 107, 305 is attached to the garment 200 at positions corresponding to the shoulder region of the wearer. The shoulder region of the wearer is generally subject to little to no motion even during strenuous exercise. As such, the attachment of the panel 107, 305 to the garment 200 causes little or no pull on the garment 101 even during motion of the wearer.

[0085] The panel 107, 305 comprises a plurality of textile patches 103, 301 comprising electrodes such as the textile patches 103, 301 comprising electrodes 101a,b, 301 as described in the examples of FIG. 2 and FIG. 5. A first of the textile patches 103, 301 is located at a central upper chest region of the panel 107, 305. The “central upper chest region” will be understood as referring to a region which, when worn, corresponds to a central upper chest region of the wearer. Beneficially, when provided in this position, the weight of the textile patch 103, 301 causes the panel 107, 305 to hang downwards and urge the electrode of the textile patch 103, 301 towards the body surface. In this way, the attachment of the panel 107, 305 to the garment 200 causes the electrode to be positioned towards or near the body surface so that the electrode may measure biosignals of the wearer.

[0086] A second of the textile patches 103, 301 is located at a lower left chest region of the panel 107, 305. The “lower left chest region” will be understood as referring to a region which, when worn, corresponds to a lower left chest region of the wearer which is proximate to a cardiac region of the wearer. The panel 107, 305 is shaped to position the electrode of the textile patch 103, 301 away from the garment 200. In this way, when worn, the electrode is positioned on or near the body surface. The shaping of the panel 107, 305 is achieved through use of a dart 407 in the panel 107, 305. The dart 407 will be understood as referring to a fold that is sewn or otherwise introduced into the panel 107, 305 to provide the shape to the panel 107, 305. The panel 107, 305 may be thought of as having a flat, planar, surface. The dart 407 has the effect of removing a wedge-shaped piece of the panel 107, 305 and pulling the edges of that wedge together to create a shallow cone. In this way, the dart 407 urges the electrode away from the main planar surface of the panel 201.

[0087] The dart 407 is not required in all examples of the present disclosure, and instead other structures or features of the panel 107, 305 may be used to provide the desired shape to the panel 107, 305 to position the electrode away from the garment 200. For example, a seam, pleat, or gather in the panel 107, 305 may be used to provide the same effect as the dart 407.

[0088] The panel 107, 305 may be bias cut. This means that that a piece of textile forming the panel 107, 305 is cut diagonally or obliquely to the grain of the textile. Being cut on the bias means that the panel 107, 305 has more stretch when compared to textiles cut along the straight grain or cross grain. Being bias cut means that the panel 107, 305 will drape in a way which contours to the shape of the body surface. This helps maintain the electrodes in a position which is near or in contact with the body surface.

[0089] A first electrode may act as a reference electrode. The controller in communication with the first electrode may act as a reference controller. A second may act as a measuring electrode. The controller in communication with the second electrode may act as a measuring controller. That is, one of the first and second electrodes may be controlled to act as a reference during biopotential and/or bioimpedance measurements.

[0090] The first controller and the second controller are able to stimulate the body, such as by injecting a current into the body via the electrode(s) for performing an impedance measurement. The first controller and the second controller are also able to measure a physiological signal of the body, such as an ECG, by measuring a potential via the electrode(s). The first electrode and the second electrode may both comprise a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact which are spaced apparat from another. The first and second electrical contacts may be arranged as concentric rings, for example. The potential may be measured between the electrical contacts of the first electrode and/or the second electrode.

[0091] The biosensing textile 100, 300 further comprises a communicator 405. The communicator 405 transmits biometric data recorded by the electrodes and optionally processed by the first/second controller wirelessly to an external device. In some examples of the present disclosure, the communicator 405 is a cellular communicator 405 operable to communicate the biometric data wirelessly with an external server via one or more base stations

[0092] The communicator 405 is conductively connected to the second controller by a conductor. The first electrode and/or first controller are conductively connected to the second electrode and/or second controller via a conductor.

[0093] The communicator 405 in this example is shown at a position which is spaced apart from the first and second electrodes at a position close to the end region of the textile panel 107, 305. In some examples, the communicator 405 may be incorporated with one of the controllers or the electrodes.

[0094] The textile panel 107, 305 further comprises a power source 403 for powering the first controller and the second controller. The power source 403 may be a battery 403. The power source 403 is conductively connected to the first controller by a conductor. The power source 403 is conductively connected to the second controller by a conductor. The power source 403 is conductively connected to the communicator 405 by a conductor. In other examples, a separate power source is provided for each of the controllers. That is, a first power source may be provided for powering the first controller and a second power source may be provided for powering the second controller.

[0095] The conductors are, in this example, formed of a graphene or a graphene-derivative and are printed onto the textile 107, 305 using a screen-printing process. Other printing processes may be used. In some examples, the conductor may be a conductive transfer. The conductive transfer may comprise graphene.

[0096] It will be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to screen printing conductors onto a textile or the use of conductive transfers. In other examples, the conductors may be incorporated into one or more fibres of the textile.

[0097] The first electrode and second electrode may be conventional metallic electrodes such as silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes.

[0098] The first and second electrodes in may be formed of a 2D electrically conductive material. The material may be graphene or graphene-derivative which is screen printed onto the textile. The combination of the electrodes being integrated into the textile and formed of a 2D electrically conductive material means that the electrodes have a minimal footprint on the textile.

[0099] The garment may comprise an aperture through which the power source of the inner biosensing layer is visible. The aperture may be sized to receive the power source such that the power source is accessible via the outside surface of the garment. The power source may be removable from the textile panel. The textile panel may comprise a holder for receiving the power source. The power source may snap in/out of the holder or may clip in/out of the holder. The power source may visually indicate the status of the power source such as by indicating the amount of charge remaining for the power source. The power source may comprise one or more light sources for indicating the status of the power source.

[0100] Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown an example method of manufacturing a biosensing textile according to aspects of the present disclosure. Step 701 of the method comprises providing a textile patch comprising an electrode. Step 702 of the method comprises providing a controller for controlling the electrode on a surface of the textile patch. Step 703 of the method comprises attaching the textile patch to a textile panel to form the biosensing textile such that the controller is sandwiched between the textile patch and the textile panel. Step 703 may be performed before step 702. That is, the controller may be provided on a surface of the textile patch after the textile patch is attached to the textile panel.

[0101] Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown an example method of manufacturing a biosensing garment according to aspects of the present disclosure. Step 701 of the method comprises providing a textile patch comprising an electrode. Step 702 of the method comprises providing a controller for controlling the electrode on a surface of the textile patch. Step 703 of the method comprises attaching the textile patch to a textile panel to form the biosensing textile such that the controller is sandwiched between the textile patch and the textile panel. Step 704 of the method comprises disposing the biosensing textile inside a garment. Step 705 of the method comprises attaching the biosensing textile to the inside of the garment.

[0102] At least some of the example embodiments described herein may be constructed, partially or wholly, using dedicated special-purpose hardware. Terms such as ‘component’, ‘module’ or ‘unit’ used herein may include, but are not limited to, a hardware device, such as circuitry in the form of discrete or integrated components, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks or provides the associated functionality. In some embodiments, the described elements may be configured to reside on a tangible, persistent, addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute on one or more processors. These functional elements may in some embodiments include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Although the example embodiments have been described with reference to the components, modules and units discussed herein, such functional elements may be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. Various combinations of optional features have been described herein, and it will be appreciated that described features may be combined in any suitable combination. In particular, the features of any one example embodiment may be combined with features of any other embodiment, as appropriate, except where such combinations are mutually exclusive. Throughout this specification, the term “comprising” or “comprises” means including the component(s) specified but not to the exclusion of the presence of others.

[0103] All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0104] Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

[0105] The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.