A groundbreaking new textile metamaterial promises to revolutionise the wearable fitness tracker industry, enabling more accurate data collection with greater flexibility.
- This metamaterial—a material designed at Boston University in the US to have properties not found in nature—can be patterned onto clothing to create a battery-free network of sensors, monitoring heart rate and other vital signs while blocking extraneous signals, and maintaining function even when the textile is exposed to water (including salt water).
THE CONTEXT: The challenge with fitness tracking sensors currently on the market is the difficulty connecting them to a central device like a smartphone.
- Wireless technology such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are commonly used, but these often drain the phone’s batteries and present security risks.
- Near-field communication—the same technology that powers mobile payments—is a promising alternative, but it has limited range and is sensitive to environmental factors such as water and sweat.
THE SOLUTION: To overcome these challenges, the scientists designed a cutting-edge body-area network (BAN) composed of textile metamaterial patches crafted from coaxial cables (the same cables that bring internet and TV signals). The patches can be seamlessly embroidered into clothing in any custom pattern.
- The system enables the smartwatch to continuously monitor physiological signals emitted from one’s left arm even when the person is wearing the smartwatch on the right wrist.
- The smart textile allows the signal to be easily transmitted through the smart clothing in the form of a surface wave. And such a signal stream remains robust and accurate even when the person is swimming, taking a shower, or just running outdoors on a rainy day, a very rare characteristic in the field of smart textiles.
THE PROJECT: The Boston university team, led by Distinguished Professor of Engineering Xin Zhang, published their findings in Nature Communications. The paper’s co-author was Xia Zhu, a doctoral student in Zhang’s lab.
- Zhang’s team also included Ke Wu, a postdoctoral fellow in Zhang’s lab; Xiaohang Xie, a graduate student in Zhang’s lab; and Stephan Anderson, a professor of radiology at the BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- The study was supported by BU’s Rajen Kilachand Fund for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Imagine a sophisticated network of sensors seamlessly integrated into your clothing, constantly tracking your body’s signals in real time. Whether you’re pushing your limits during a marathon, swimming laps, or simply going about your daily routine, this network provides a wealth of information without interrupting your activities.
— Xia Zhu (Co-Author)
Doctoral Student
Boston University
