MIDE TECHNOLOGY CORP — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: DHA17-005

Description

USAMRMC seeks a sensor-enabled compression shirt for continuous ambulatory monitoring of service personnel via wearable sensors, which would allow for improved safety and sustained work capacity. Such a shirt must be comfortable and operable for 72-hour continuous wear, breathable, flame-retardant and avoid introducing thermal load. It must survive normal use including wear & tear (abrasion, stretch, crumpling, folding) and at least 100 machine-wash cycles. Perhaps most importantly, the system must maintain an open architecture that allows for rapid innovation and iteration of novel sensors and algorithms. Mide proposes a parallel two-path solution consisting of a proven, low-risk path to get to a usable product quickly, and a separate R&D path to address specific pain-points common to current e-textile approaches. The R&D path addresses comfort issues, practical challenges inherent in low-volume manufacturing of customized garments, reliability issues with current e-textile interconnect technologies, and electrode contact during vigorous motion. Both paths focus on modularity and EMI control to enable related USAMRMC goals such as self-powering sensor garments and nerve-impulse detection.