Textile Pressure Sensor

Monitoring plantar pressure is relevant in various clinical and fitness applications, from prevention of foot ulceration in diabetic subjects to gait and biomechanical analysis in sports and shoe fitting. Using textile-based sensors is an ideal solution to obtain soft, unobtrusive and integrated sensors for everyday life, such as socks.

We develop textile pressure sensors with common textile manufacturing techniques (e.g. embroidery) and materials that allow for customizable and scalable sensing systems. The sensors are first characterized on the bench to derive the electromechanical response, then tested on real people by comparing the obtained signals to signals obtained from commercial pressure sensitive insoles.

Our goal is to obtain smart socks with full soft and textile feeling, adaptable to the wearer’s size and capable of monitoring pressure in real time on an everyday basis. The same sensing technology could be used in other applications like pressure ulcer monitoring in bed sheets or for the classification of sitting postures. 

Contact Person: Valeria Galli