Combining wireless with wearable technology for the development of on-body networks

In the area of wearable devices, the issue of comfortable body monitoring is of up most importance. However conventional sensors are generally unsuitable for wearable body monitoring devices either due to their physical structure or their functional requirements. This paper presents a prototype wearable device whereby the breathing rate of a number of subjects were monitored and compared to an established method. The prototype took the form of a skin-tight Lycra-based t-shirt into which a polypyrrole-coated polyurethane foam sensor and a wireless communication platform was incorporated. The sensor was soft and compressible, retaining the desirable mechanical properties of the original structure, making it attractive for wearable applications, such as monitoring breathing during exercise. Information from this sensor was wirelessly transmitted to a base-station for storage and display purposes. This paper is focused on the successful integration of all these components into a wearable wireless sensor and evaluates its ability to measure breathing frequency