A device the size of two stamps can help gather data from patients to aid in muscle rehabilitation.
A “smart textile” powered by body movement could be the next step in helping people recover from muscle injuries.
The device — composed of nanomagnets and conductive yarn — senses and measures body movements like flexing muscles and pulsing veins. It’s those same movements that give power to the device, about the size of two stamps, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal “Matter.”
“Another highlight of the device is its self-powering properties,” senior author Jun Chen of the Department of Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a press release. “The ability to convert biomechanical force to electricity means the device is also a generator. This eliminates the need for bulky, heavy, and rigid battery packs usually needed in wearable electronic designs.”
In addition to being self-powered, the textile is described as stretchy, durable and waterproof. It can extend to three-and-a-half times its length.
The researchers say the product is easy to make with a sewing machine, is scalable, and costs less than $3 to produce each patch.
“Our device is very sensitive to biomechanical pressure,” Chen said. “The device converts muscle activities into quantifiable, high-fidelity electrical signals that are sent wirelessly to phone apps. This demonstrates the potential for personalized physical therapies and improving the rehabilitation of muscle injuries.”
Researchers made distinct measurements depending on where the device was placed on someone. They determined throat movements as someone drank water and ankle movements as someone walked. They also ascertained someone’s pulse on their wrist. When on a person’s bicep, the device showed if someone was bending their arm or making a fist, as well as to what degree.
The scientists say this information can lead a clinician to determine “Goldilocks zones” — safe spots to ensure a patient avoids over-exertion.
When tested in conditions that mimicked sweating and heavy rain, the device’s signal output stayed strong despite being hit with a water spray.
Although it feels like cloth, the device isn’t a true fabric, but rather a nanomagnet-filled rubber patch. Researchers used a sewing machine to stitch silver-coated conductive yarn in a coil design on the device. A tap of the finger will deform the pattern of magnetic fields in the rubber, which makes an electric current through the yarn. These phenomena — when forces change magnetic fields and magnetic flux variations make electricity — are called the magnetoelastic effect and electromagnetic induction.
Next steps for Chen’s team include making the textile thinner and lighter to optimize the wearer’s experience. The team also wants to find new methods of incorporating Chen’s findings into other wearable or implantable bioelectronics.
“We’ve tested the device for cardiovascular monitoring and respiration monitoring as well,” Chen said. “One day, we may be able to reinvent or replace current systems, such as EKGs, that require external power sources, and make them less bulky and more wearable.”
Chen’s work is supported by UCLA, the Hellman Fellows Research Grant, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Grant, and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Source: https://www.courthousenews.com/