Taking a step further towards the advancements in medical science, researchers are quite close to developing a simple, low-cost method to create ‘smart fabrics’ which would be capable of detecting diseases, monitoring heart rates, and other vital signs.

It has been informed by the US and Chinese reseachers Nicholas A. Kotov, Chuanlai Xu and colleagues that electronic textiles, or e-textiles, already are a reality.

They said, “However, the current materials are too bulky, rigid, and complex for practical use. Fabric makers need simpler, more flexible materials to make e-fibres practical for future applications.”

A release by the American Chemical Society explains the development of cotton fibres, coated with electrolytes and carbon nanotubes (CNT) - thin filaments 1/50,000 the width of a single human hair.

When woven into fabrics, these fibres are capable of transmitting electricity. The researchers found through the lab tests that the new e-fibers could light up a simple light-emitting diode, when connected to a battery.

The scientists further informed, “When coated with certain antibodies, the fibres detected the presence of albumin, a blood protein - a function that could be used to detect bleeding in wounded soldiers. The fabrics could also help monitor diseases and vital signs.”

The report was published in the Wednesday edition of Nano Letters.