Smart Textile Development for Health Monitoring

This project aims to develop a smart textile-based solution for early detection and management of sleep apnea, a condition that significantly impacts health, especially in those with chronic illnesses like heart failure. Traditional diagnostic methods are often inconvenient, uncomfortable, and expensive. To address these challenges, the project focuses on creating a comfortable, non-invasive, and cost-effective alternative using smart wearable textiles.

The project involves developing a smart T-shirt embedded with textile-based dry electrodes to monitor physiological signals such as ECG, body posture, and respiration. The T-shirt prototype will be finalized during a 3-month internship at Lille University, where extensive training in textile engineering and smart textile development will be provided. Afterward, data collection will be conducted in Canada at KITE, UHN, using the new prototype with participants over 40 years old. The study will assess the accuracy of the captured signals compared to traditional methods.

Additionally, the project will explore the development of functional textiles with sensing capabilities for treating sleep apnea, focusing on comfort and effectiveness. These efforts aim to advance the field of smart textiles, offering practical, user-friendly health monitoring solutions that could lead to earlier diagnosis and intervention for sleep apnea, ultimately improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

Faculty Supervisor:

Azadeh Yadollahi

Student:

Partner:

Université de Lille

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Toronto

Program: