Footfalls and Heartbeats highlights smart fabric manufacturing process

Footfalls and Heartbeats has recently published a paper in the MDPI Engineering Proceedings, highlighting its technology as a viable alternative to the industry standard method of data capture for movement patterns and biomechanics.

Footfalls & Heartbeats has developed a process for manufacturing smart fabric. Nanoscale interactions that take place within the fabric remove the need for wires or solid-state electronics; 'the textile is the sensor'.

The paper, published by Footfalls, entitled: “Assessing the Validity of a Kinematic Knee Sleeve in a Resistance-Trained Population” is the first written by Nathan Toon, a recent graduate of Derby University who joined the company in September of last year. The study assessed the validity of a Kinematic Knee Sleeve (KiTT), designed, and manufactured by Footfalls, against Vicon, an industry leading, gold-standard motion-capture system.

Motion-capture systems are capable of recording joint angles such as the relative knee angle in the sagittal plane, the displacement of segments, and the angular motion of joints and segments. Relative Knee Angle is commonly measured when assessing squat depth to provide the user and coaches with information relating to range of motion or strength improvements that can be used to develop effective strength and conditioning strategies and rehabilitation plans.

However, when recording motion through such systems, real-time data is not available, compromising the data’s value during a particular session. Additionally, these systems are not as accessible and are coupled with the need for specialist equipment and training.

Wearable sensors that can be worn away from specialist settings and provide real-time and instantaneous data to users and coaches allows exercise or training methods to be adjusted instantly, suiting the needs of the session to aid performance and rehabilitation in a way that is not possible with fixed and specialist motion-capture systems. Previous wearable sensors, such as smart watches focus on comfort for the user, rather than the quality of data. As a result, accuracy is often lost, leading to unreliable and invalid data.

Footfalls and Heartbeats Kinematic Knee Sleeve (KiTT) aims to bridge the gap between comfort for the user and the collection of valid, accurate and actionable data. KiTT is a custom-knitted smart wearable knee sleeve, which is the first of its kind that knits the sensor directly into the fabric. Part of the KiTT is an electronics module, allowing data from the textile strain sensor to be transmitted to a portable device. Through comparing their KiTT technology against Vicon, it was found that The KiTT appears to serve as a practical alternative to Vicon without sacrificing the quality of the data.

Nathan Toon, postgraduate researcher at Footfalls and Heartbeats and lead author of the paper, said: “I’m very excited to have my first manuscript published with the MDPI Engineering Proceedings. I hope that it will be the first of many, with the great supervisory team here at Footfalls and Heartbeats. Our findings show that Footfalls’ KiTT technology fulfills a real need in the field of sports science and rehabilitation and performs as a viable alternative to the industry leader.”