A textile magnetoelastic patch for self-powered personalized muscle physiotherapy

Summary

To prevent excessive and deficient movements during at-home muscle physiotherapy, we introduce a textile magnetoelastic patch for personalized muscle activity monitoring. It can quantitatively monitor muscle rehabilitation progress and provide guidance on extremity movements. The patch utilizes the magnetoelastic effect and magnetic induction to continuously convert muscle biomechanical activities into analyzable electrical signals. It demonstrates a decent stretchability of 350%, a skin-matched Young's modulus of 80 kPa, a pressure sensitivity of 2.78 μA kPa⁻¹, a response time of 0.12 s, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 29 dB, and long-term service stability of over 100,000 cycles, while also being intrinsically waterproof, highly stretchable, and mechanically durable. Additionally, the patch can be massively produced using the machine sewing technique, showing decent scalability. When attached to the biceps, it could differentiate electrical signals from arm movements and display quantitative results on user interfaces, allowing users to understand and adjust their exercise levels effectively.