A scalable process for manufacturing integrated, washable smart garments applied to heart rate monitoring
Nadine Dabby, Aleksandar Aleksov, Eric A. Lewallen, Sasha N. Oster, Racquel Fygenson, Braxton Lathrop, Michael D. Bynum, Mezhgan Samady, Steven Klein, Steven D. Girouard · 2017
We present a new method for building wearable electronic and sensor systems in which all components are permanently integrated directly into garments in high volume except for the battery. We discuss the design and construction of the first such fully-integrated sensor system, wearable heart rate monitoring garments (a sports bra, a compression short, and a compression shirt) that are machine washable. We demonstrate that heart rate measurements can be detected by our system's fabric-based electrodes. We also show experimental results from wash testing of the garment. The process described herein can be applied to the construction of computational and sensor systems for healthcare, sports, virtual reality, and first responder and military personnel monitoring, among others.