Smart Tape for Monitoring Human Joint Motion and Sweat with Unique Stiffness Design of Piezoelectric Sensing Mechani in Stretching and Bending Motion

Abstract

This paper presents a wearable multi-functional device integrated with commercial kinesiology tape to directly apply to the human skin for monitoring joint and muscle signals. A sensing foil structure constructed with PZT film is utilized to detect joint bending and muscle stretching motions. This design provides the advantage of different levels of sensing stiffness in stretching and bending motion. Besides, the sweat sensor is integrated with the smart tape. The developed sweat sensor utilizes the capacitive sensing mechanism and biocompatible Nafion as sensing material to contact the skin. It possesses highly sensitivity in small amount of sweat detection with a fast response time.