Sensors sewn into fabric

Engineers at MIT have come up with a way to incorporate biosensors into stretchy fabric. The idea is to create clothes that can detect simple vital signs like temperature, respiration and heart rate. In the past, sensors have been embedded into skin-like patches that have to be taped down, but this design weaves long flexible strips of sensors into narrow channels in the garments. These channels house small openings that let the sensor arrays touch the skin. As well as helping athletes measure performance – imagine a football team kitted out with these shirts – the clothes could help doctors monitor patients when they’re at home. Next, the researchers want to look at whether they can incorporate different sensors, such as blood oxygen level monitors.