FBG-based smart textiles for continuous monitoring of respiratory movements for healthcare applications

The potential impact of optical fiber sensors embedded into medical textiles for the continuous monitoring of the patients is presented. We report on a novel non-intrusive optical sensing technology designed to measure the elongation due to abdominal and thoracic motions during breathing. The developed sensor can successfully sense textile elongation between 0.1% and 5%, while maintaining the stretching properties of the textile substrates for a good comfort of the patient. The solution prototyped shows a high stability and good reproducibility allowing consideration of a mobile or static application with an easier integration in all kinds of garment by stitching the sensor to the garment. The sensor is coupled to a compact, real time and accurate monitoring system which could be interfaced to a conventional monitor for medical application or to a wireless system for all mobile and ambulatory applications.