Designing smart textiles for the detection of loneliness in older individuals

As mental health is lately of increasing concern, loneliness in elderly people has become a critical issue. Loneliness can lead to adverse health situations for the ageing community, with depression and anxiety being the dominant ones. These conditions are known to trigger a cascade of emotions which are often translated into alterations of some physiological signals such as heart rate and blood pressure, respiration rate, skin temperature, sweating and hormonal levels. These changes can be monitored via several means like electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure measurement, electromyogram (EMG), galvanic skin response (GSR) and sweat analysis. Effective monitoring with wearable sensors can reveal alterations in the levels of the monitored signals and help family, carers and doctors to tend to the person’s needs. The present study aims to design and develop a smart textile with various embedded sensors that will collect and monitor the physiological signals of older adults with loneliness. The designed individual sensors are screen printed on thin films and integrated in textiles to capture key signals related to heart rate, body temperature, breathing rate etc. In this work, a smart textile with ECG, motion, pressure and temperature sensors will be developed with encapsulation to protect electronic parts and extend their life cycle.