Multimodal flexible sensor for healthcare systems

This paper describes potential applications of our previously developed fabric sensor into wearable healthcare or nursing systems based on its sensing modalities. This sensor is knitted from tension-sensitive electro-conductive yarns; whose structure has an elastic core, wound around by two separated tension-sensitive electro-conductive threads. This makes the sensor inherently flexible and stretchable, allowing it to conform to any complicated surface. We have equipped the sensor with three modalities, including proximity that allows the sensor to estimate a distance from the sensor to human hand and activates a light touch sensing, which could initiate comfortable and friendly interfaces in order to reduce burden of patients/disable people during interactions with healthcare devices; tactile perception that can measures contact force or applied load, especially realize slippage acting on the sensor surface, which is promising to be embedded into wearable devices or smart carpets; and tensile that can quantify a volume's contraction/expansion, which can be employed to monitoring muscles activity and so on.