Electronic Circuits Integration in Textiles for Data Processing in Wearable Technologies

TLDR

Wearable electronics must be lightweight, conformable, imperceptible, and life‑proof, and integrating modern technologies into clothes requires textile‑embedded circuits capable of complex, reliable computing. This review outlines four smart textile fabrication approaches: textile circuits, functionalized fibers, flexible circuits, and hybrid stretchable circuits. The first two approaches use the fabric as a substrate, attaching components to fiber tracks or embedding functionalized fibers, while the third and fourth rely on flexible/stretchable hybrid substrates processed separately from the garment. Despite a loss in wearing comfort, this axis of research is driven by the superior computational performances.

Abstract

Abstract To become an integral part of the everyday outfits, wearable electronics are expected to be lightweight, conformable, imperceptible for the user and life‐proof. The prospect of integrating modern technologies in clothes requires electronic circuits in textiles which are able to perform complex computing with high reliability. Four approaches to smart textile fabrication are described in this review: textile circuits, functionalized fibers, flexible circuits, and hybrid stretchable circuits. In the first two, fabric serves as a substrate for the electronic circuit to maintain essential textile properties. In basic textile circuits, standard electronic components directly attached to fiber tracks insure elementary electronic functionalities while remaining a noninvasive solution. Then, functionalized fibers replace the rigid electronic parts, to make the electronics even more integrated, merging inside the core of the fiber. These most recent works are today limited to basic logic circuitry and quasi‐static applications. The third and fourth approaches have shown the advantages to rely on well‐established technologies with dedicated flexible/stretchable hybrid substrates processed separately from the garment. Despite a loss in wearing comfort, this axis of research is driven by the superior computational performances.