Multi-Material Inkjet Printing for Smart Textile Applications

Europe’s aging population poses significant challenges to healthcare systems, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of social health infrastructure. This demographic shift will drive a growing need for personalized, comprehensive care tailored to elderly patients' specific requirements, alongside enhanced caregiver support and the adoption of advanced technologies like telemedicine and remote monitoring. Recent advancements in digital inkjet printing have unlocked new possibilities for textile functionalization, offering unprecedented levels of customization and seamless integration of electronic devices. This study examines the fabrication of a wearable smart belt by combining dual-sided embroidery for electrical interconnections with multi-material inkjet printing and a tailored low-temperature bonding process to directly assemble electronic SMDs onto textiles. To establish contact with the electronic island for heart rate measurement on the back of the belt, contact surfaces were created on the back using embroidery, like the principle of vias in PCB production. A key innovation lies in the dual-sided embroidery of conductive yarn, complemented by the inkjet printing of electronic islands. This design enables the interconnection of multiple sensors, which are prominently displayed on the belt's front side, offering a novel and effective solution for integrating smart functionality into textiles.