Washington: Clothes with computer components that can gather, store or transfer data has come closer to reality after a team of researchers could embroider electronic circuits into fabric with 0.1 mm precision.
With further development, the Ohio State University researchers' technology could lead to shirts that act as antennas for your smart phone or tablet, workout clothes that monitor your fitness level, sports equipment that monitors athletes' performance, a bandage that tells your doctor how well the tissue beneath it is healing or even a flexible fabric cap that senses activity in the brain.
That last item is one that John Volakis and research scientist Asimina Kiourti are investigating. The idea is to make brain implants, which are under development to treat conditions from epilepsy to addiction, more comfortable by eliminating the need for external wiring on the patient's body.
"A revolution is happening in the textile industry," said Volakis, adding "We believe that functional textiles are an enabling technology for communications and sensing and one day even medical applications like imaging and health monitoring."
The study is published in journal IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.
