Smart textiles appearance

Previously, textile fabrics were only used for fashion, appearance, comfort, and protection however, smart textiles can extend the health monitoring system to a modem level by utilizing touch, chemical, and pressure sensors. Adding nanotechnology to smart textiles can open a whole new generation of telemedicine and health care applications. 

In this chapter we have chosen not to focus on specific examples of smart textiles application in order to avoid narrowing the field of smart implantable fibrous medical devices to a few innovative textile properties. Contrariwise, fiber characteristics are pointed out to show that all of them, in a prospective designing approach, could achieve smart features in the implantable device area. However, we are limited in exploratory areas using new materials because a decline is needed to be certain that a material is accepted by the body. Given the diversity of appreciation of smart appearance, as well as the implantable medical device aspect, we have focused on the biocompatibility and biointegration of substitutes in their environment. This theme therefore needs to be complemented by other approaches such as the concepts of smart attitude and implantable device as related in Fig. 13.1. 

Most smart polymers can be triggered in a variety of ways such as the response of SMPs to thermal, chemical, magnetic and water stimuli. Another example is the way a hydrogel can respond to pH, heat, light, magnetic fields, etc. These diverse stimuli make it possible to use smart polymers in different applications. Smart polymers used in textiles usually appear in various forms such as film, fibre, solution or gel to meet different processing requirements in textiles. 

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