CNT based Textiles for Smart ECG Monitoring

Evolution of flexible, conformal and stretchable electronics incorporated with commercially available electronic modules embedded on a soft and elastic substrate is a critical technology in the domain of healthcare. Now-a-days, healthcare requirements have moved from a hospital-centric approach to a home-centric approach. This is because medical equipments have become portable so that the person's health parameters can be measured anywhere and at any point of time. These convenient oriented devices are brought to life because many diseases like heart related diseases which are unpredictable and require immediate attention of the medical expert. So, the concept of smart textiles can help reduce deaths due to heart diseases. Therefore, to achieve this technology, it becomes mandate to integrate smart materials i.e., nanomaterials like CNTs (Carbon Nanotubes), Graphene, Carbon Black, etc with the textiles. These materials are highly conductive, light-weight and possess high mechanical strength and can be incorporated in fabrics to accomplish the notion of `smart textiles'. Recent advancements in the synthesis of nanomaterial-based textiles have addressed several problems especially related to heart diseases. Basically, smart textiles help acquire ECG signals from the person and then the signals can be transmitted to the doctor for expert advice. Therefore, in this paper we throw light on the CNT based textiles for smart ECG monitoring.