China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Textile Memories
Published in Paul A. Rodgers, Design for People Living with Dementia, 2022
New technologies have enormous potential and can promote dignified ageing. Especially, in the area of health, such technologies can support people with various medical conditions by providing additional functions. By integrating electronic components, almost all everyday objects can be made “smart” (i.e. digitally enabled). Through this digital upgrade, technological devices can facilitate, improve, and even sustain the lives of people living with dementia. This research focuses on the development and design of technical aid for people with dementia (PWD). The focus of this design research work is wearable, mobile technical systems and garments which can be worn on the body. These are called Wearable Technologies, Fashion Technology, E-Textiles, or Smart Textiles. The terms are often used synonymously and cannot be clearly distinguished from each other. Their additional functionality enables an increase in or heightening of physical and mental human capabilities. For this reason, these technical devices are summarised in this article under the term “wearable enhancement” (WE). The term thus implies all wearable, sociotechnical artefacts for enhancing human function.
Primary care
Published in Ian Greaves, Military Medicine in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2018
Significant capability enhancements such as Programme Cortisone,42 which will deliver the next-generation DMS global health informatics platform, are progressing well. The DMS Change Programme and single Service employability, deployability and sustainability work strands are optimising the preparation and availability of DMS primary care force elements at readiness. The DMS GP Specialty Trainee residential course has been refocused upon teaching enhanced clinical skills required in the deployed Role 1 space that are beyond the scope of the NHS national GP curriculum. The development of novel biosensors, wearable technologies, smart textiles and telemetry will assist both reach back and reach forward.
Synergistic Antimicrobial Activity of Silver and Chitosan
Published in Huiliang Cao, Silver Nanoparticles for Antibacterial Devices, 2017
Sulbha K. Sharma, Gitika Kharkwal, Ying-Ying Huang, Michael R. Hamblin
Antimicrobial wound dressing nanofibre mats were prepared by assembly of multiple components (chitosan/silver-NPs/polyvinyl alcohol). These materials showed superior properties and synergistic antibacterial effects by combining chitosan with AgNPs (Abdelgawad et al. 2014). Chitosan combined with cellulose fibres was used to prepare sponge-like structures (membranes, foams) for the binding of silver ions. The composite material had very promising antibacterial properties against P. aeruginosa Gram(−) ≫ E. coli Gram(−) > Staphylococcus hominis Gram(+) ≫ S. aureus Gram(+) (Guibal et al. 2013). Antibacterial cotton fabrics were prepared containing core–shell Ag nanoparticles (Abdel-Mohsen et al. 2012). A multi-finishing treatment of cotton fabrics was carried out using core-shell nanoparticles that consisted of silver nanoparticles (Ag(0)) as the core and chitosan-O-methoxy polyethylene glycol (CTS-O-MPEG) as the shell. These NPs showed excellent antibacterial activity against Gram-negative E. coli and Gram-positive S. aureus. Electronic textiles and other smart textiles offer new possibilities in health care and risk management but bear their own risks for causing problems such as allergies (Wollina et al. 2006).
Proposal for a method for analysing smart personal protective systems
Published in International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 2022
Patrice Marchal, James Baudoin
Dolez et al. [6] from the IRSST present, in a scientific report, an analysis of the application potential of ‘smart’ textiles in the field of occupational health and safety. Following an inventory of these different types of smart textiles, and interviews with occupational risk prevention specialists, they defined eight types of problem. The most significant for our study are as follows: negative effects on health and safety, e.g., presence of nanoparticles that might be a source of concern, possible allergic reactions or, indeed, the presence of electric current in certain textiles that might give rise to electrical risks;lack of knowledge, of standards and of testing methods that might generate risks for wearers or users, e.g., in the event the products are defective – since the tests are not adapted to that type of product, the wearer or user cannot be sure that the product is reliable;incompatibility problems such as risks of interference between electronic systems integrated into clothing and communications systems.
Emerging technologies and their potential for generating new assistive technologies
Published in Assistive Technology, 2021
Sarah Abdi, Irene Kitsara, Mark S. Hawley, L. P. de Witte
Advanced materials have facilitated the production of more robust, comfortable and sometimes more inexpensive AT products. Moreover, these materials have made certain advancements in emerging AT applications a reality. Some examples of uses of new materials come from the areas of prosthetics and orthotics and vision-related AT. Composite materials, some including glass- or carbon-fiber, for instance, allow for prosthetic/orthotic solutions which are lightweight and with a more dynamic response than that of traditional materials. Moreover, advances in nanotechnology and electrochemistry allow metal to be “woven” into textiles, thereby providing conductivity and electrical connectivity, enabling the embedding of sensors or electronics in textile. Some smart textiles of this sort are used for health monitoring. Another trend is developing materials that are organic and which open up possibilities for regenerative medicine, with applications in different areas including eye implants (Fiorillo et al., 2020; The Alliance of Advanced Biomedical Engineering (AABME), 2020)