Towards the integration of textile sensors in a wireless monitoring suit

In this paper, we present textile sensors for the equipment of a wireless monitoring suit. The suit is intended for the monitoring of electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiration rate of children in a hospital environment. Special attention is given to the dedicated sensor interface circuits. The sensors, which are entirely fabricated out of textile, are integrated in a prototype belt of the monitoring suit. The complete suit will not contain only the sensors, but also the interface, data handling, storage and transmission electronics. Therefore, distributed, miniaturized circuitry, textile interconnections, a textile antenna and hermetic packaging are developed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.