'E-Textiles' May Give 'Custom Tailoring' New Meaning

(By John Mccormick -- Virginia Tech)

That's no ordinary fabric coming off a loom operated by Meghan Quirk, a graduate student at Virginia Tech. The loom is weaving cloth that may one day be made into a shirt that could both defibrillate a heart and play MP3s. Graduate student Josh Edmison (top insert) is wearing an "e-textile Hokie suit" whose sensors and wires (bottom insert) collect data about his gait. Virginia Tech electrical and computer engineering professor Mark Jones and associate professor Tom Martin lead a research team that started developing the idea six years ago.

Sensors and wires woven into the clothing would measure blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature or movements and relay the data to a computer, cellphone or other device that could signal for help if the wearer experiences a health problem. Martin said his team has done some testing of the fabric but hasn't yet thrown it into the wash. (Insulation around the wires is supposedly detergent-resistant.) Some other kinks still to be worked out: how the fabric should respond if, for example, a wearer rolls up his sleeves, and how to allow consumers to purchase e-clothing preprogrammed for their particular needs. Retail sales, Martin said, are probably years off.

-- Kathleen Hom