Wearable technologies hold immense potential to improve human health, especially in an ageing society like Singapore. With the ability to monitor systems and capture data in real-time, wearable technologies empower individuals to monitor their health and fitness and make informed lifestyle decisions that can prevent or manage common lifestyle or age-related diseases. In addition, wearable technologies can also enable remote patient monitoring to aid in patient recovery and improve patient care, all while reducing costs for healthcare practitioners and patients alike.
To make a technology wearable, the electronic, sensing and computing components must be seamlessly integrated into clothing. Textile electronics are designed to equip textile or fibre assemblies with electronic functions for sensing, computation, display, and communication. One limitation to this is the reliance on rigid electronic components such as batteries and chips, which can compromise the comfort and flexibility of the fabric and therefore, the wide adoption of wearable technology.
Recent advancements in materials science and electronics have paved the way for innovative solutions to this problem. For example, flexible and stretchable electronic materials have been developed that seamlessly integrate with traditional textiles to ensure wearable electronics are both comfortable and non-intrusive.
Recent advancements in materials science and electronics have paved the way for innovative solutions to this problem. For example, flexible and stretchable electronic materials have been developed that seamlessly integrate with traditional textiles to ensure wearable electronics are both comfortable and non-intrusive.
With a goal of creating effective and comfortable electronic textiles, a team of researchers from NUS Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthTech), led by Associate Professor John Ho and Assistant Professor Liu Yuxin, collaborated with researchers from Donghua University to develop soft, thin fibres that are capable of transmitting information wirelessly and processing sensory feedback from users and the environment without the use of batteries or electronic chips. They have termed their technology i-fiber. The fibres were designed and fabricated at Donghua University. The testing and simulation of the wireless functionality of the fibres as well as use case explorations were conducted at NUS. This work was recently published in
Science.
In this study, i-fiber was reportedly easy to fabricate and could be woven into fabrics of various sizes using existing machines. This collaborative innovation addresses the limitations of traditional wearable electronics and opens up new possibilities for their seamless integration into everyday clothing and textiles.
Functionalities
i-fiber does not need to be connected to a power source as it has been designed to wirelessly harness ambient electromagnetic (EM) energy. In this case the wearer’s body acts as part of the circuit. When the wearer’s body comes in contact with the outer layer of i-fiber, skin interface contact capacitance is generated, and this guides the electrical energy flow through the human body and the ground, thereby powering the i-fiber.
In addition, i-fiber can transmit information wirelessly and process sensory feedback without the use of external electrical components or chips. This is achieved when wearers interact with the integrated system of flexible electronic components, which are present in layers within i-fiber. The core acts like an antenna to receive and transmit radio waves. The middle layer stores energy similar to a battery. The outermost layer is a sensing layer that consists of a luminescent coating. This layer glows upon human touch, allowing human-readable feedback.
As the wearer touches the fibre, the generated interface capacitance between human skin and the conducting fibre layers allows the charges within i-fiber to switch between bound and excited states. This allows the fibre to glow and transmit signals in the form of radio waves.
This fibre design integrates the power generation, sensors and effectors – components that respond to signals – in a single fibre, removing the necessity for chips, batteries, or any rigid components within a textile and making it almost indistinguishable from conventional textiles in appearance and feel.
Fabrication
In addition to their advanced functionalities, the fabrication process of i-fibers is relatively straightforward due to the lack of electronic components. This means there is strong potential to produce these fibres at scale. Moreover, the fibres are exceptionally soft, flexible and breathable, ensuring optimal comfort and wearability. The team also showed that the fibres are durable enough to be sewn and embroidered with a sewing machine, and washed without reducing performance or affecting appearance. These results show that i-fibers possess textile features similar to conventional textile materials.
The team also demonstrated the potential of these soft fibres using a series of simple wireless digital interactions. In addition to lighting up in response to touch, the team also demonstrated how the fibres could provide real-time feedback based on environmental stimuli, such as virtual gaming with real-time controls, or expand smart-home potential after being integrated into carpets.
The development of these soft fibre electronics represents a significant milestone in the field of wearable technology. By overcoming the limitations of rigid electronics and harnessing the potential of soft, flexible fibres, this innovation facilitates scalable fabrication and compatibility with modern weaving techniques, thereby enabling versatile and intelligent clothing, and may potentially revolutionise our daily interaction with technology.
References
Yang, W., Lin, S., Gong, W., Lin, R., Jiang, C., Yang, X., ... & Wang, H. (2024). Single body-coupled fiber enables chipless textile electronics. Science, 384(6691), 74-81.
