The advances that we’ll be seeing in fabric technology in the coming years will be pretty impressive. In fact, we devoted an entire show to this topic on the radio show last year where retail expert, Mercedes Gonzalez shared some of the amazing things that fabric will be able to do for us in the not too far off future. From fabric that charges iPhones to clothing that will be able to deliver medication to our bodies in a transdermal manner, and more, fabrics of the future won’t only be pretty, they’ll serve a purpose.
Today, there has been a lot of talk about The Baby Suit, designed to protect babies (and give parents a sense of relief) from Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID). The new “smart” baby clothing tracks infants breathing and alerts parents if there is trouble.
Fitted to a romper suit, the stretchable printed circuit board monitors infants’ breathing.
CREDIT: VERHAERT Masters in Innovation
4,500 infants die in this country each year from SUID. This smart baby suit, which could help unravel the mystery of these deaths, is a romper with a printed circuit board made of stretchable polyurethane — and commercially available sensors to monitor the breathing in a baby’s chest and stomach areas, according to Tech News Daily.
Most of today’s smart clothing prototypes typically attach stiff electronic chips or parts to flexible clothing materials. Yet, Tech News Daily reported that scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin, Germany took a slightly different route with this design by using the stretchable polyurethane circuit board as a middle-man platform for placing electronic components. The positioning is more precise with the printed circuit board compared to placing electronics directly onto clothing materials.
This type of smart clothing will not just be used to protect babies from SUID. These sensors can also help burn victims by telling nurses where to apply the right pressure and also improve soldier endurance on the field.
Smart clothing, smart idea.
