Solutions are needed to help people adjust their posture to prevent these problems and improve the health of students and people with sedentary careers.
Current monitoring solutions have limitations that have prevented their widespread adoption. To solve this problem,
Researchers develop a comfortable and durable self-propelled fabric
Which can be combined with sensors to help correct posture in real time.
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Self-propelled fabric was developed using Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENG), which use movement to collect the energy needed to power the posture monitoring sensors. The data collected by the sensor is processed by an integrated machine learning algorithm that can provide immediate feedback, when the wearer needs to adjust their posture.
The technique was described in a paper published in Nano Research.
“People often sit in various bad postures in their daily lives, which causes pain and discomfort,” said paper author Cai Dong, an associate researcher at the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“This ‘seating sickness’ could be reduced if individuals were able to observe their real-time sitting posture by wearing a specific type of clothing made from smart textiles. With a self-powered sitting position monitoring vest Users can view their currency, make changes on their screen and make necessary adjustments.”
Special fabric is made by weaving together a nylon fiber with a conductive fiber. As the wearer moves, the fibers are stretched and compressed. The constant motion and contact between the two fibers generates electricity, a phenomenon known as contact electrification.
Fabric stretches easily, is durable, washable and breathable, And it can be worn comfortably for a long time. This makes it ideal for long-term currency monitoring. According to paper author Zhong Lin Wang, Hightower Chair in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and Regents’ Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, factors such as durability and comfort are important in how people use smart textiles.
“Flexibility, stretch and bending ability all affect the comfort of wearable sensors,” Wang said. “But these factors also affect how well the fabric works. The fabric shows good stretch due to its weave structure, which also increases its output and produces higher voltages.”
In addition to the comfort of the fabric, another important aspect is the reliability of posture monitoring. The sensor is sewn directly into the fabric in position along the cervical spine, thoracic spine and lumbar spine. These positions help collect data on the most common slouching positions such as the humpback posture.
The data collected by the sensor is interpreted by a machine learning algorithm, which processes information about how the wearer is seated, categorizes their sitting position, and monitors when prompted. How do they correct their posture? The system is able to accurately identify the wearer’s posture 96.6% of the time.
With this combination of wearability and accuracy, researchers hope this self-powered monitoring vest will help students and people with sedentary jobs avoid pain, discomfort, and long-term health problems. “We believe the Teng-based self-powered monitoring vest provides a reliable health solution for long-term, non-invasive monitoring,” Dong said. “It also extends the application of triboelectric-based wearable electronics.”
Source: Eurekalert
