Point-of-care temperature and respiration monitoring sensors for smart fabric applications

Advances in smart sensors, miniaturization, and related technologies leading to the emergence of smart fabrics are prerequisites to the construction of a point-of-care (POC) system for continuous health monitoring and illness prevention. Low manufacturing cost, light weight, portability and flexibility are among the requirements for smart sensors when embedded into smart fabrics. Organic semiconductor technology has recently been envisioned to meet these requirements, and to encourage the development of organic semiconductor based sensors because of its low process temperature and potential for very low cost manufacturing. In this paper, we present flexible sensors based on an organic semiconductor capable of measuring physiological parameters such as strain and temperature, adopting pentacene thin film transistors (TFTs) and Wheatstone bridge structures. It is expected that these sensors, integrated into textile structures, will enable real time POC monitoring of a patient's respiration rate, skin temperature, body heat flow and body temperature at an early stage.