Wireless Wearable T-Shirt for Posture Monitoring During Rehabilitation Exercises

• Published in: IEEE transactions on instrumentation and measurement Vol. 64; no. 2; pp. 439 - 448
• Main Authors: Sardini, Emilio, Serpelloni, Mauro, Pasqui, Viviane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.02.2015; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Biomedical monitoring; Design specifications; Devices; Electronics; Impedance; Impedance analysis; Monitoring; optical measurements; Patients; posture monitoring; Printed circuits; Rehabilitation; sensorized T-shirt; Sensors; smart vest; Wearable; wearable system; Wireless communication; Wireless sensor networks; wireless system; smart vest; wireless system; posture monitoring; Impedance analysis; wearable system; sensorized T-shirt; optical measurements
• ISSN: 0018-9456; 1557-9662
• DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2014.2343411

The monitoring of any human physiological parameters during rehabilitation exercises requires noninvasive sensors for the patient. This paper describes a wireless wearable T-shirt for posture monitoring during rehabilitation or reinforcement exercises. The subject posture is measured through a sensorized T-shirt using an inductive sensor sewn directly on the fabric. The wireless wearable T-shirt design specifications are the following: independence from the remote unit, easy to use, lightweight and comfort of wearing. This paper reports the conceptual framework, the fabricated device description, and the adopted experimental setup. The instrumented T-shirt's output data are compared with the data obtained via an optical system, as a gold standard, that measures the marker positions over the patient's back and chest. The trials performed on four subjects obtained on different days demonstrate that the wireless wearable sensor described in this paper is capable of producing reliable data compared with the data obtained with the optical system. The constitutive sensor simplicity that includes only a copper wire and a separable circuit board allows achieving the objectives of simplicity, ease of use, and noninvasiveness. The sensorized T-shirt, integrated with designed conditioning and transmission electronics for remote communication, could be used as a support tool for postural monitoring during rehabilitation exercises.