Development of a Prototype E-Textile Sock.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Textile Sensors

Background:

• Gait and postural analysis are crucial for clinical diagnostics.
• Existing methods may be cumbersome or lack continuous monitoring capabilities.
• Electronic Textiles (ET) offer potential for integrated, unobtrusive biosensing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a sensorized sock, the SWEET-Sock, for acquiring plantar pressure and lower limb motion data.
• To integrate textile sensors and an accelerometer within a wearable sock.
• To enable real-time data transmission and cloud-based processing for biomechanical analysis.

Main Methods:

• The SWEET-Sock incorporates three textile plantar pressure sensors and an accelerometer.
• Conductive threads connect sensors, which are interfaced with a LilyPad Arduino microcontroller.
• Data acquisition and transmission utilize Simblee BLE technology to a mobile application, with subsequent cloud upload to a MATLAB GUI platform for signal processing.

Main Results:

• The system successfully acquires plantar pressure and acceleration signals from lower limb motion.
• Biosignals are conditioned and transmitted wirelessly for digital signal processing.
• A MATLAB GUI platform facilitates the analysis of key biomechanical parameters.

Conclusions:

• The SWEET-Sock is a viable electronic textile solution for unobtrusive biomechanical data acquisition.
• This wearable sensor system supports clinical interest in postural and gait analysis.
• The integrated design allows for comprehensive motion and pressure monitoring.