Sleep monitoring textiles

Textiles with integrated sleep-monitoring sensors... 

The following sections give an overview of the parameters that are useful to monitor sleep and their corresponding sensors. Finally, a review of textile-based sleep-monitoring systems is given. 

Principles of textile-based sensors for sleep-monitoring... 

Textile-based sensors have been integrated into mattresses, pyjamas/underwear, and caps/patches to monitor various parameters. This section gives an overview of the state-of-the-art textile-based sensor systems for sleep monitoring. 

Devot, S., Bianchi, A., Naujokat, E., Mendez, M., Brauers, A., Cerutti, S., 2007. Sleep monitoring through a textile recording system. In Proceedings of the 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, Lyon. 

In the medical field, many textile-based devices using piezoelectric materials as sensors and actuators have been developed. A medical ECG chest, sleep monitor, patient care tremor suppressor, and breast cancer detection bra are some of the many devices that employ various forms of piezo materials. Several portable types of health monitors... 

A114Rest is a European-funded project focussing on improving tactile and thermal comfort in rest systems to promote a deeper, more restorative sleep. In the project s framework textile sensors embedded in a mattress were developed to monitor sleeping quality by measuring body movement and room temperature. This section summarises the results on the sensor systems (A114Rest, 2011). 

Textile-based vital parameter monitoring systems used during sleep... 

E-textiles may be defined as textiles with electronic properties, and the markets for E-textiles are rapidly growing. An E-textile is an application built within a textile. E-textiles are finding their use in wearable technology, sports and fitness markets, medical and health monitoring systems, sleep apnea monitoring systems, antenna applications, space, military, infotainment, fashion, and others. Conductive tapes, webbings, fabrics, and 3D preforms are being used for E-textile applications. E-textile markets will soon be a billion dollar industry. 

E-textiles are being used in wearable technology, the sports and fitness market, health monitoring systems, sleep apnea monitoring systems, antenna applications, and space, defense, and military applications. 

Conductive tape (Courtesy of Bally Ribbon Mills) is used to neutralize the static electricity and EMI shielding. An elastic webbing (Courtesy of Bally Ribbon Mills) with cable has been used for undersea communication. Physiological sensors and other sensors have been incorporated into textile substrate to monitor heart rate, skin temperature, movement and respiration, and muscle activity for medical and sports applications. RIP (respiratory inductance plethysmography) belts (Courtesy of Natus Neurology Incorporated) are used for sleep apnea monitoring. A conductive belt is used to make electrodes for EEC and other medical applications. A 3D conductive webbing (Courtesy of Bally Ribbon Mills) is also used as ON and OFF switch. 

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