A woven wristband for spatiotemporal body temperature sensing for healthcare applications

F1exible micro and nano sensors are a highly attractive option for the monitoring of physiological parameters like temperature, respiration rate, heartbeat, etc. in the healthcare field. Smart textiles and wearables are one of the most suitable ways in which vital parameters of a person can be monitored continuously without severely affecting the comfort and health of the person. In this paper, a textile based flexible sensor has been developed to create a thin wrist band which can be used to monitor the temperature of the person wearing it so as to detect alarming changes in temperature like in the case of fever or hypothermia. The constituent materials and the weaving pattern have been selected so as to facilitate temperature sensing with high precision. Through a series of experiments in a controlled environment, the optimal number of strands, optimal weaving pattern and the optimal length of the fabric are found by varying the aforementioned parameters and calculating the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The readings obtained from the sensor do not fluctuate vividly with the passage of time, which indicates that the readings are stable. From the change in resistance the corresponding change in temperature (from the body temperature for which the fabric is calibrated for) is calculated on the basis of TCR.