# Smart Clothing Framework for Health Monitoring Applications
## 3 Proposed Framework for Smart Clothing (Leggings)
### Development of Textile Materials
#### 3.3.1 Conductive Fibres and Fabrics  
Conductive metal filaments including copper (Cu) and silver-plated copper (Cu/Ag), brass (CuPbZn) and silver-plated brass (Ms/Ag), and aluminium (Al) to copper-clad aluminium (CCA) are used in smart clothing. Metal monofilaments blended with other textile fibres are used for weaving and knitting [82]. Initially, conductive threads were used in clean room garments, military clothing, medical application and electronics manufacturing [83]. Electrotextiles reveal the conductivity and are used in antistatic applications [84, 85], electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI) [86], electronic applications, infrared absorption and in the protection of clothes in explosive areas [87]. A company in Switzerland called Swiss-Shield(r) [88] has produced metal monofilaments incorporated into base yarns such as cotton, polyester, polyamides and aramides. A conductive yarn with base fibres and a metal monofilament twisted around them is presented in Figure 10.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Attributes** & **Specification** \\ \hline Size & XS–S, M–L \\ Fabric materials & Polyamide, Polyester and LYCRA, graphene \\  & 3D acceleration sensor with 360-degree high-sensitivity \\ Sensors & vibration motor \\  & Power management module \\  & Bluetooth 4.0 or higher wireless technology \\ Communication & Smartphone \\ Power and Battery & Self-powering \\  & Minimal washing (delicate washing conditions), a maximum temperature of 30 \({}^{\circ}\)C \\  & Wash by hand, maximal temperature 30 \({}^{\circ}\)C, handle with care/Washable \\ Care Instruction & No bleaching \\  & Suitable for tumble drying (no heat setting) \\  & Cool iron (Maximum sole-plate temperature of 110 \({}^{\circ}\)C, steam-ironing may be a risk) \\  & No dry cleaning or removing stains with solvents \\  & iOS: 9.0 or later \\  & Android: 6.0 or later \\ App requirement & Support for Bluetooth 4.0 or higher \\  & Mobile application \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: Conceptual technical specification for future smart leggings (adapted from [80]).  
Figure 9: Classification of textile materials for smart clothing.  
Electrically conductive fabrics are developed by weaving conductive yarns into the textile structures or applying metallic coatings on the yarn or fabric [89]. Examples of a metal wire twisted around a polymer yarn, a polymer yarn coated with a thin metal layer and a conductive yarn consisting of metal multifilaments are presented in Figure 11. Researchers have developed conductive threads by coating a conventional yarn with metal layers, ELITEX(r). Nylon 66 threads were coated with a thin silver layer in [90].  
Researchers have developed a plain-woven textile structure with polyester yarns twisted with one copper thread as shown in Figure 12a. A hybrid fabric called PETEX was developed (Figure 12b) by weaving polyester (PET) monofilament yarns containing copper alloy wires [91]. The copper wires were coated with a polyurethane varnish as electrical insulation. A metallized woven nylon fabric is developed using silver, copper or a combination of copper and nickel [92]. A Danish company has developed weaving electronics into fabrics, electronic conductors in clothing, operating panels in textiles (soft keyboards, displays, etc.) and microsensors. Copper thread was used as conductive yarn, which is plated with a silver layer and coated with a polyester layer [93].  
Figure 11: (**a**) A metal wire is twisted around a polymer yarn; (**b**) a polymer yarn coated with a thin metal layer; and (**c**) a conductive yarn made of metal multifilaments (adapted from [89]).  
Figure 10: A schematic of conductive fibre twisted with normal fibres.