Abstract
New medical compression technologies that are simultaneously low-profile, facile to don, and dynamic—applying medical compression only when needed—can expand the use of wearable compression, increase patient compliance, and lead to better medical outcomes. Dynamic and conformal wearable compression devices are presented that can be donned in a low-stiffness state and transition into a high-stiffness and, consequently, high-compression state, on-demand. These devices are enabled by active textiles developed from custom NiTi filaments that remain inactive at room temperature and accomplish actuation proximal to the human body surface. Further, these compression devices exploit NiTi material hysteresis to sustain a high-compression state post-heating and upon equilibrium with the body surface temperature for thermally-comfortable, on-body performance. Two case study examples—1) a consumer medical compression device and 2) a custom astronaut compression device—demonstrate the generalizability and flexibility of the engineering and design methods to develop a range of dynamic, tunable, and conformal compression devices with different goals and requirements. Further, this work demonstrates a roadmap for developing wearable systems that can accommodate a range of users without sacrificing system performance. This research opens doors for new NiTi-based medical and consumer applications that interface with the body surface.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2200467 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials Technologies |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (Grant No. 80NSSC17K0158) and the University of Minnesota's Office of Academic Clinical Affairs. A significant thank you to Fort Wayne Metals for providing the NiTi materials for this work—specifically, Jeremey Schaffer, Shawn Chaney, Jack Davis, and Ciera Balkenbusch. This work could not have been completed without your time, resources, and expertise. The authors would like to thank Rachel Boucher of Rach-al-Paca Fiber Mills for access to and assistance with industrial ring spinning equipment. Thank you also to David Giles from the University of Minnesota Polymer Characterization Lab for DSC equipment access. Thank you to Alireza Golgouneh and Ellen Dupler for sensor setup support. Trade names and trademarks are used in this report for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (Grant No. 80NSSC17K0158) and the University of Minnesota's Office of Academic Clinical Affairs. A significant thank you to Fort Wayne Metals for providing the NiTi materials for this work—specifically, Jeremey Schaffer, Shawn Chaney, Jack Davis, and Ciera Balkenbusch. This work could not have been completed without your time, resources, and expertise. The authors would like to thank Rachel Boucher of Rach‐al‐Paca Fiber Mills for access to and assistance with industrial ring spinning equipment. Thank you also to David Giles from the University of Minnesota Polymer Characterization Lab for DSC equipment access. Thank you to Alireza Golgouneh and Ellen Dupler for sensor setup support. Trade names and trademarks are used in this report for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Advanced Materials Technologies published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
Keywords
- active textiles
- actuators
- compression stockings
- medical compression
- shape memory alloys
- wearables