Development of Electroactive Multiffunctional Fiber

Our overall goal is to develop multi-functional electro-active yarns that can be knitted/woven to create a garment with embedded dry-textile electrodes (e-textiles). This garment will be used, for fully sensing human electrophysiological signals as well as stimulating specific muscles of the human body using textile-based wearable technology. These multi-functional fibers are going to be manufactured using functional polymers through melt-spinning and/or coating processes. This involves many factors such as functional polymers development which are extrudeable and manufacturing yarns that are knittable/weaveable. The knitted/woven sensors need to be flexible, washable and wearable. At the same time, e-textiles must be able to perform and function accurately and effectively. These polymers and extruded fibers will be characterized by various mechanical, thermal, electrical and microscopic techniques. This platform targets sensing and processing specific electrophysiological signals, namely, Electrocardiography (ECG), Electromyography (EMG) and Electroencephalography (EEG), as well as stimulating the body using electrical signals. Furthermore, the proposed platform creates a multipurpose sensing-processing-stimulating garment-based system.

Faculty Supervisor:

Hani Naguib

Student:

Partner:

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: