EMG pants for smart textile-based monitoring of the muscle activity in the pelvic floor in physical therapy

Abstract

People worldwide suffer from bladder incontinence. For patients it is difficult to train the pelvic floor without a physiotherapist. The aim of this paper is to show how smart textiles can be applied in telemedicine. Textile electrodes and conductive paths are embroidered into underwear. The electromyography (EMG) signals of the pants are sent to an app. The app visualizes the data of the muscle activity.

Keywords

• emg
• smart textiles
• pelvic floor
• bladder incontinence
• physical therapy
• e-health