The Integration of Smart Textiles with LoRa Technology Enables Real-Time Health Monitoring

Abstract

Electronics and textiles are being increasingly integrated into e-healthcare, creating textiles that can sense, communicate, and interact. Medical professionals can remotely monitor and diagnose patients using long-range (LoRa) wireless technology leading to efficient communication within Wireless Body Area Networks. This paper presents the development of a smart textile-based LoRa system that can monitor the heartbeat and predict body temperature over long and short distances. The proposed system consists of a smart textile combined with a LoRa module and a pair of sensors (photoplethysmography and body temperature). The proposed digitally embroidered monopole antenna can be seamlessly integrated into clothing. Notably, the reflection coefficient analysis of the proposed embroidered textile antenna confirm triple-band operation with wide-bandwidth characteristics at 433, 610, and 915 MHz. Moreover, the numerical results reveal that the antenna is not affected by lossy human body and structural deformations. The fabricated prototype is combined with the LoRa and sensors, which monitor the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), heartbeat, and temperature data. The data transmission of temperature and heartbeat at a 915 MHz LoRa frequency demonstrates the effectiveness in enhancing health monitoring capabilities up to 250 m with RSSI -84 dBm and 433 MHz LoRa frequency up to 350 m with an RSSI of -90 dBm. The Lora technology integrated with smart textiles offers a wireless solution for wearable devices, which enhances their functionality and usability in e-healthcare applications.