Protection e-Textiles: MicroNanoStructured fibre systems
for Emergency-Disaster Wear (EU funded project)

Starting date: 01/02/2006; closing date: 31/01/2010.

Focusing on textile-based MicroNano technologies within a communicating framework, the ProeTEX 6th Framework IST Integrated Project is developing textile and fibre based integrated smart wearables for emergency disaster intervention personnel with a goal of improving their safety, coordination and efficiency and additional systems for injured civilians aimed at optimising their survival management. This focussed application area will drive a wide range of key technology developments to create micro-nano-engineered smart textiles - integrated systems (fabrics, wearable garments) using specifically textile-based micro-nano technologies. These developments will feed through to a wide range of other markets from extreme sports, through healthcare to transportation maintenance and building workers.

Advanced E-Textile systems can bring together sensors, connections, transmission systems, power management. The emergency disaster personnel smart garments will progressively enhance and integrate such textile systems to enable the following functions:

· Continuous monitoring of life signs (biopotentials, breathing movement, cardiac sounds)

· Continuous monitoring biosensors (sweat, dehydration, electrolytes, stress indicators, O2, CO)

· Pose and activity monitoring

· Low power local wireless communications, including integrated textile antennae

· Internal temperature monitoring using textile sensors

· External chemical detection, including toxic gases and vapours

· Power generation - photovoltaic and thermoelectric and energy storage.

· Longer term e-textile technologies including further sensors, light emission and logic on fibre

The project builds and integrates with the roadmap established within the EU projects Wealthy, MyHeart, Biotex and wearIT@work.