RESUMEN

Biomedical sensors, integrated into textiles would enable monitoring of many vitally important physiological parameters during our daily life. In this paper we demonstrate the design and performance of a textile based pulse oximeter, operating on the forefinger tip in transmission mode. The sensors consisted of plastic optical fibers integrated into common fabrics. To emit light to the human tissue and to collect transmitted light the fibers were either integrated into a textile substrate by embroidery (producing microbends with a nominal diameter of 0.5 to 2 mm) or the fibers inside woven patterns have been altered mechanically after fabric production. In our experiments we used a two-wavelength approach (690 and 830 nm) for pulse wave acquisition and arterial oxygen saturation calculation. We have fabricated different specimens to study signal yield and quality, and a cotton glove, equipped with textile based light emitter and detector, has been used to examine movement artifacts. Our results show that textile-based oximetry is feasible with sufficient data quality and its potential as a wearable health monitoring device is promising.

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RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Medical textiles offer a unique contact opportunity that could provide value-added comfort, reliability, and safety for light or laser-based applications. We investigated a luminous textile diffuser for use in photodynamic therapy. METHODS: Textile diffusers are produced by an embroidery process. Plastic optical fibers are bent and sewn into textile to release light by macrobending. A reflective backing is incorporated to improve surface homogeneity, intensity, and safety. Clonogenic assay (MCF-7 cells) and trypan blue exclusion (NuTu19 cells) tests were performed in vitro using 0.1µg/ml m-THPC with three textile diffusers and a standard front lens diffuser. Heating effects were studied in solution and on human skin. PDT application in vivo was performed with the textile diffuser on equine sarcoids (three animals, 50mW/cm(2), 10-20J) and eight research animals. Lastly, computer simulations were performed to see how the textile diffuser might work on a curved object. RESULTS: At low fluency rate, there is a trend for the textile diffuser to have lower survival rates than the front lens diffuser for both cell lines. The textile diffuser was observed to retain more heat over a long period (>1min). All animals tolerated the treatments well and showed similar initial reactions. The simulations showed a likely focusing effect in a curved geometry. CONCLUSIONS: The initial feasibility and application using a textile-based optical diffuser has been demonstrated. Possibilities that provide additional practical advantages of the textile diffuser are discussed.