Only Using Body Heat Can Drive Textile Deformation.

Researchers at Minnesota University in the United States have developed a temperature-responsive fabric, which relies on body heat as a source of power and changes shape with the shape of each part of the body.

The fabric is similar to the typical knitted product. The difference is that the fabric is made of special active material, also known as Shape memory alloy (SMA) - the active material will change its shape when the temperature rises.

They can be customized for different styles of garments, which can be easily molded, from loose to tight, or even bent in a unique way and fit to various parts of the body, such as the rear of the knee. The future can also be made into a tights, which is easy to wear and comfortable to wear from the beginning, and then tighten up enough to fit the wearer's body.

Brad Holschuh, one of the professors who led the study, said: "the research results have created an exciting new opportunity to build a ready to wear garment with physical transformation over time, which is of great significance to medical, aerospace and commercial applications. "

The research was conducted jointly by the Design of Active Materials and Structures Lab (DAMSL) and the wearable technology laboratory (Wearable Technology Wearable, Minnesota). It also included 2 graduate students, including Professor Chan and MS.

Holschuh added: "this research has taken an important step in creating smart textiles for human body. "What's exciting is that the technology has simultaneously solved two major problems: how to drive the pattern of cloth deformation without requiring a lot of power or heat energy, and how to make the textile or garment conform to the shape of the irregular parts of the body. "

Through collaboration with NASA, researchers have studied the unique size of human calf. They then designed, manufactured and tested one that could accurately fit the leg shape and Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) (SMA-ba). SED) knitted garments.

"This technology needs to be improved at multiple scales," Abel said. "On the scale of materials, we have fine tuned the body temperature response without increasing power. In structure, the products we make can perfectly adapt to the complex body shape of the human body. At the system level, we create a way of drawing textiles that meet human mechanical properties. "

"Every progress is important, but they have created an unprecedented function together."

The next step is to integrate these fabrics into full-size garments, which can solve the problems of various sizes. Improving clothing is very important for body fit and fit, such as medical grade pressure socks.