Effect of fixing material on skin-contact temperature measurement by wearable sensor

Recent advances in wearable sensors, as well as wireless technology and mobile computing have fostered a dramatic growth of a new generation of monitoring systems that allow one to record physiological data from individuals carrying on daily activities in the home and outdoor environments. For many applications of wearable systems, there is typically a need for achieving stable contact of the sensing elements with the skin, which requires that sensors be embedded in a fixing material (which can be an elastic bandage or a tightly-fit undergarment). However, when performing temperature monitoring in this way, measurement error may be resulted from the change of heat transfer of the local skin area by the fixing material. This study aims to disclose the effect of the fixing material on temperature measurement via skin-contact wearable sensors. The results of this study are expected to be valuable for designing wearable devices of temperature measurement.