Challenges in medical smart textiles

There is no doubt that wearable technologies have much to offer to the medical sector, such as continuity of care from early detection through to home therapeutic and rehabilitation aids. They have the potential to introduce more personalised care and to encourage people to take a more active role in their health and well-being. It is hoped that this will help to reduce the demand on future health care systems and result in more efficient care. In order for this technology to become widely accepted, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome. 

Wearable technologies should be soft, flexible, and washable, to meet the expectations of normal clothing. Washing is an important factor in terms of product life cycle. The 

Sensor systems become redundant if patients or clinicians do not want to work with them. A review of patients and clinicians preferences for non-invasive body-wom sensor systems was carried out by Bergmann and McGregor (2011). The key user preferences were that a body-worn sensor system should be compact, embedded, and simple to operate and maintain. It also should not affect daily behaviour nor seek to directly replace a health care professional. 

The sharing of patient data between health care professionals, departments, and other information systems could affect the confidentiality of a patient s data or it could compromise the integrity and timeliness of the treatment of the data (Whitehouse and Duquenoy, 2011). These threats are extremely difficult to address technologically and enforce internationally (Duquenoy and Whitehouse, 2010). Patient confidentiality must be preserved and the users informed consent must be given to use these data. Given that a user may have little knowledge and lack of control of the information system handling the data, we need to ask to what extent and in what way, the particular user is informed of the system (Duquenoy and Whitehouse, 2010). Another potential ethical impact on users is compatibility—if the user is tied in to one particular system platform and its applications, this raises issues of affordability and opportunity for equal access. Reliability is another concern, particularly where systems are life critical. Users need to be made aware of how reliable the systems are. 

Under Armour have teamed up with Zephyr to develop the E39 compression shirt, which measures heart rate, breathing rate, and G-force information. It combines with the Omnisense software to develop automatic tests for fitness and vertical and broad jumps and is being used by the National Football League in the United States. 

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