X. Tang
Independent Consultant,
United States
Summary:
Textile manufacturing is often overlooked as a high-value technology, despite offering scalable,mechanically compliant, and highly programmable structures. By incorporating establishedtextile processes with functional materials, textiles can evolve from passive components intoactive biomedical platforms. Here, we apply this concept to a knitted arterial graft, embeddingsensing functionality directly during fabrication to enable continuous monitoring without addedspecial assembly steps or mechanical compromise.The proposed graft integrates a stretchable conductive yarn composed of a polyurethane corecoated with polypyrrole, selected for its compatibility with conventional textile processing.Using a weft-insertion technique commonly employed in textile manufacturing, the sensor yarnis incorporated into the knitted architecture during graft fabrication, eliminating the need forexternal sensors or post-assembly modification. Sensor sensitivity is tuned through stitch design,with an insertion pattern featuring controlled floating lengths providing enhanced detection oflocalized flow restriction.To enable distributed monitoring, sensor elements are positioned at regular intervals along thegraft, allowing spatial tracking of signal changes associated with progressive occlusion.Numerical modeling is used as a design-support tool to guide stitch configuration and sensorplacement, ensuring reliable deformation and signal response under clinically relevant loadingconditions.