From Fabric to Function: Textile-Based Sensors for Continuous Health Monitoring

ABSTRACT Wearable sensing technologies are rapidly emerging as essential tools for continuous health monitoring in daily life. Textiles, being in direct and constant contact with the human body, provide an ideal platform for integrating such sensing functions. For sensorized garments to be suitable for home monitoring, they must meet strict requirements in terms of unobtrusiveness and user comfort. Conventional e-textile approaches that rely on rigid electronic components or laminated films often compromise garment breathability, flexibility, and softness, leading to user discomfort and reduced wearability. This work presents an alternative approach to electronic textiles (e-textiles), in which sensing capabilities are derived directly from the structure, orientation, and interconnection of conductive yarns integrated within the fabric. The proposed concept leverages the inherent properties of textiles—softness, flexibility, and comfort—while enabling multifunctional sensing without the need for bulky or rigid components. The design focuses on the three-dimensional textile architecture to engineer reliable and accurate sensing surfaces. Conductive yarns can be knitted, woven or embroidered to function as capacitive or resistive elements, enabling the detection of parameters such as pressure, strain, and moisture. Furthermore, arrays of conductive yarns can be configured to form capacitive touch sensors or humidity-sensing grids. Power supply and data acquisition units remain external but can be positioned in unobtrusive locations to preserve wearer comfort. We present several examples of functional textile sensors, including woven, knitted, and embroidered configurations. By employing computerized textile manufacturing techniques, accurate, reproducible, and durable sensors can be realized while maintaining textile comfort and aesthetics. The elimination of rigid or laminated components further enhances washability and long-term reliability under real-world conditions.