Textination Newsline

Comprised of up to 99.8 percent air, aerogel is the lightest solid in the world. The material, which is also called “frozen smoke” due to its appearance and physical properties, exhibits extremely low heat conductivity which exceeds other insulations many times over. This is why NASA has already been using aerogel for aerospace projects for many years.

Despite this, it has not been possible to bind the material to textiles in a high concentration and enable straightforward further processing over the roughly 90-year history of the material. Outlast Technologies GmbH has developed an innovative process - a patent has already been filed for -  for permanently adhering large amounts of aerogel to different media, like nonwoven fabric, felt and composites materials. Their original properties are retained throughout, so they can easily be further processed using conventional production methods.

The fabrics sold under the Aersulate name are only 1 to 3 mm thick and achieve very high insulation values which are largely retained even under pressure and in moist conditions. Despite their high performance, they are still soft and can be used for shoes, clothing and work safety products, as well as for sleeping bags and technical applications.
 
“Thanks to its extraordinary physical properties, NASA has already been using aerogel for many years,” remarked Volker Schuster, Head of Research and Development at Outlast Technologies. “For example, for the insulation of its Mars rovers and for capturing dust from the tail of a comet during the Stardust mission,” he continued. Since the development of aerogel by American scientist and chemical engineer Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, no-one had been able to apply the versatile material to textiles in large amounts without changing their original properties, despite intensive research. This means that the products were often not only very rigid, but made processing with conventional production methods impossible due to their high degree of dust abrasion. With the newly developed Aersulate technology, which was presented for the first time in June 2022, the Heidenheim-based specialist for textile thermoregulation is opening a different chapter in insulation history.

High-performance insulation just 1 to 3 mm thick
“The consistency of aerogel can be best described as liquid dust particles which spread uncontrollably throughout a room within seconds thanks to their minimal thickness,” explained Schuster. “This is why processing is a big challenge.” Outlast Technologies has managed, after a development period of around five years, to bring an innovative process involving the adhering of aerogel between multiple layers of material to market maturity. Depending on the area of application, nonwoven fabric, felt and different composite materials can be used as the media. What is special here is that the properties of the respective textiles are not adversely affected by the Aersulate technology, meaning that they can easily be further processed with conventional means and under industrial conditions despite their acquired thermal properties.
 
As a silicate-based solid, aerogel is obtained from natural quartz sand, yet exhibits a density over 1,000 times lower than glass manufactured from the same raw material. The extraordinary thermo-insulating properties of the material are thanks to its extremely porous structure, which enables it to be composed of up to 99.8 percent air.
 
“One liter of aerogel weighs just 50 g,” explained Schuster. “Just 10 g of the material has the same surface area as a soccer field, though.” Thanks to these properties, Aersulate textiles exceed all other previously known insulation materials in terms of performance, despite the fact that they are only 1 to 3 mm thick. Tests carried out by the German Institute for Textile and Fiber Research in Denkendorf (DITF) using the Alambeta method showed that the thermal resistance of an Aersulate fleece is more than double that of a conventional fleece of the same thickness. Add to this the fact that the thermo-insulating properties of Aersulate products remain high despite pressure and wetness, while they decrease enormously with other conventional materials like felt and polyurethane foam (PU) under these conditions.

Work safety and functional clothing with Aersulate
Thanks to the textile medium, thin Aersulate products are especially suitable for the shoe and clothing industry, as well as all areas of work safety. The user benefits from different properties, depending on the intended use. “With a glove made of Aersulate just 1 mm thick, you can put your hand into boiling water without being scalded, for example,” explained Schuster. “The material’s extremely hydrophobic properties play quite literally into our hands here.” In the case of knee patches on work and functional pants, as well as shoes and soles, on the other hand, the material properties also become relevant when compression occurs. This is because the thermo-insulation properties of other materials would be reduced little by little due to moisture from the outside and sweat from the inside on the one hand, and by the continual influence of body weight on the other.
          
In addition to the human body, luggage and technical devices can also be protected from extreme temperatures and the effects of weather with Aersulate. For this purpose, corresponding cell phone or equipment pockets could be sewn into garments, for example, to maintain their battery life even at very cold outside temperatures and to safeguard the devices from overheating in case of high heat exposure. “With the broad range of possible textile medium materials, Aersulate is suitable for all applications requiring high thermal resistance on the one hand, where only a little space is available and both compression and moisture can be expected on the other,” said Schuster in summary.

Producing infection control clothing requires a lot of energy and uses lots of material resources. Fraunhofer researchers have now developed a technology which helps to save materials and energy when producing nonwovens. A digital twin controls key manufacturing process parameters on the basis of mathematical modeling. As well as improving mask manufacturing, the ProQuIV solution can also be used to optimize the production parameters for other applications involving these versatile technical textiles, enabling manufacturers to respond flexibly to customer requests and changes in the market.

Nonwoven infection control masks were being used in their millions even before the COVID-19 pandemic and are regarded as simple mass-produced items. Nevertheless, the manufacturing process used to make them needs to meet strict requirements regarding precision and reliability. According to DIN (the German Institute for Standardization), the nonwoven in the mask must filter out at least 94 percent of the aerosols in the case of the FFP-2 mask and 99 percent in the case of the FFP-3 version. At the same time, the mask must let enough air through to ensure that the wearer can still breathe properly. Many manufacturers are looking for ways to optimize the manufacturing process. Furthermore, production needs to be made more flexible so that companies are able to process and deliver versatile nonwovens for a wide range of different applications and sectors.

ProQuIV, the solution developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern, fulfills both of these aims. The abbreviation “ProQuIV” stands for “Production and Quality Optimization of Nonwoven Infection Control Clothing” (Produktions- und Qualitätsoptimierung von Infektionsschutzkleidung aus Vliesstoffen). The basic idea is that manufacturing process parameters are characterized with regard to their impact on the uniformity of the nonwoven, and this impact is then linked to properties of the end product; for example, a protective mask. This model chain links all relevant parameters to an image analysis and creates a digital twin of the production process. The digital twin enables real-time monitoring and automatic control of nonwoven manufacturing and thus makes it possible to harness potential for optimization.

Dr. Ralf Kirsch, who works in the Flow and Material Simulation department and heads up the Filtration and Separation team, explains: “With ProQuIV, the manufacturers need less material overall, and they save energy. And the quality of the end product is guaranteed at all times.”

Nonwoven manufacturing with heat and air flow
Nonwovens for filtration applications are manufactured in what is known as the
meltblown process. This involves melting down plastics such as polypropylene and forcing them through nozzles so they come out in the form of threads referred to as filaments. The filaments are picked up on two sides by air flows which carry them forward almost at the speed of sound and swirl them around before depositing them on a collection belt. This makes the filaments even thinner: By the end of the process, their thickness is in the micrometer or even submicrometer range. They are then cooled, and binding agents are added in order to create the nonwoven. The more effectively the temperature, air speed and belt speed are coordinated with each other, the more uniform the distribution of the fibers at the end and therefore the more homogeneous the material will appear when examined under a transmitted light microscope. Lighter and darker areas can thereby be identified — this is referred to by experts as cloudiness. The Fraunhofer team has developed a method to measure a cloudiness index on the basis of image data. The light areas have a low fiber volume ratio, which means that they are less dense and have a lower filtration rate. Darker areas have a higher fiber volume and therefore a higher filtration rate. On the other hand, the higher air flow resistance in these areas means that they filter a smaller proportion of the air that is breathed in. A larger proportion of the air flows through the more open areas which have a less effective filtration effect.

Production process with real-time control
In the case of ProQuIV, the transmitted light images from the microscope are used to calibrate the models prior to use. The experts analyze the current condition of the textile sample and use this information to draw conclusions about how to optimize the system — for example, by increasing the temperature, reducing the belt speed or adjusting the strength of the air flows. “One of the key aims of our research project was to link central parameters such as filtration rate, flow resistance and cloudiness of a material with each other and to use this basis to generate a method which models all of the variables in the production process mathematically,” says Kirsch. The digital twin monitors and controls the ongoing production process in real time. If the system deviates slightly from where it should be — for example, if the temperature is too high — the settings are corrected automatically within seconds.

Fast and efficient manufacturing
“This means that it is not necessary to interrupt production, take material samples and readjust the machines. Once the models have been calibrated, the manufacturer can be confident that the nonwoven coming off the belt complies with the specifications and quality standards,” explains Kirsch. ProQuIV makes production much more efficient — there is less material waste, and the energy consumption is also reduced. Another advantage is that it allows manufacturers to develop new nonwoven-based products quickly — all they have to do is change the target specifications in the modeling and adjust the parameters. This enables production companies to respond flexibly to customer requests or market trends.

This might sound logical but can be quite complex when it comes to development. The way that the values for filtration performance and flow resistance increase, for example, is not linear at all, and they are not proportional to the fiber volume ratio either. This means that doubling the filament density does not result in double the filtration performance and flow resistance — the relationship between the parameters is much more complex than that. “This is precisely why the mathematical modeling is so important. It helps us to understand the complex relationship between the individual process parameters,” says ITWM researcher Kirsch. The researchers are able to draw on their extensive expertise in simulation and modeling for this work.

More applications are possible
The next step for the Fraunhofer team is to reduce the breathing resistance of the nonwovens for the wearer without impairing the protective effect. This is made possible by electrically charging the fibers and employing a principle similar to that of a feather duster. The electric charge causes the textile fabric to attract the tiniest of particles which could otherwise slip through the pores. For this purpose, the strength of the electrostatic charge is integrated into the modeling as a parameter.

The Fraunhofer researchers’ plans for the application of this method extend far beyond masks and air filters. Their technology is generally applicable to the production of nonwovens — for example, it can also be used in materials for the filtration of liquids. Furthermore, ProQuIV methods can be used to optimize the manufacture of nonwovens used in sound-insulating applications.

Stylish sensors to wear 
With sensors that measure health parameters and can be worn on the body, we do let technology get very close to us. A collaboration between Empa and designer Laura Deschl, sponsored by the Textile and Design Alliance (TaDA) of Eastern Switzerland, shows that medical monitoring of respiratory activity, for example, can also be very stylish – as a shirt.
 
With sensors that measure health parameters and can be worn on the body, we do let technology get very close to us. A collaboration between Empa and designer Laura Deschl, sponsored by the Textile and Design Alliance (TaDA) of Eastern Switzerland, shows that medical monitoring of respiratory activity, for example, can also be very stylish – as a shirt.

The desire for a healthy lifestyle has triggered a trend towards self-tracking. Vital signs should be available at all times, for example to consistently measure training effects. At the same time, among the continuously growing group of people over 65, the desire to maintain performance into old age is stronger than ever. Preventive, health-maintaining measures must be monitored if they are to achieve the desired results. The search for measurement systems that reliably determine the corresponding health parameters is in full swing. In addition to the leisure sector, medicine needs suitable and reliable measurement systems that enable efficient and effective care for an increasing number of people in hospital and at home. After all, the increase in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular problems or respiratory diseases is putting a strain on the healthcare system.

Researchers led by Simon Annaheim from Empa's Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles laboratory in St. Gallen are therefore developing sensors for monitoring health status, for example for a diagnostic belt based on flexible sensors with electrically conductive or light-conducting fibers. However, other, less technical properties can be decisive for the acceptance of continuous medical monitoring by patients. For example, the sensors must be comfortable to wear and easy to handle – and ideally also look good.

This aspect is addressed by a cooperation between the Textile and Design Alliance, or TaDA for short, in eastern Switzerland and Empa. The project showed how textile sensors can be integrated into garments. In addition to technical reliability and a high level of comfort, another focus was on the design of the garments. The interdisciplinary TaDA designer Laura Deschl worked electrically conductive fibers into a shirt that change their resistance depending on how much they are stretched. This allows the shirt to monitor how much the subjects' chest and abdomen rise and fall while they breathe, allowing conclusions to be drawn about breathing activity. Continuous monitoring of respiratory activity is of particular interest for patients during the recovery phase after surgery and for patients who are being treated with painkillers. Such a shirt could also be helpful for patients with breathing problems such as sleep apnea or asthma. Moreover, Deschl embroidered electrically conductive fibers from Empa into the shirt, which are needed to connect to the measuring device and were visually integrated into the shirt's design pattern.

The Textile and Design Alliance is a pilot program of the cultural promotion of the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, St.Gallen and Thurgau to promote cooperation between creative artists from all over the world and the textile industry. Through international calls for proposals, cultural workers from all disciplines are invited to spend three months working in the textile industry in eastern Switzerland. The TaDA network comprises 13 cooperation partners – textile companies, cultural, research and educational institutions – and thus offers the creative artists direct access to highly specialized know-how and technical means of production in order to work, research and experiment on their textile projects on site. This artistic creativity is in turn made available to the partners as innovative potential.

• Bcomp wins BMW Group Supplier Innovation Award in the category “Newcomer of the Year”

The sixth BMW Group Supplier Innovation Awards were presented at the BMW Welt in Munich on 17 November 2022. The coveted award was presented in a total of six categories: powertrain & e-mobility, sustainability, digitalisation, customer experience, newcomer of the year and exceptional team performance.

Bcomp won the BMW Group Supplier Innovation Award in the Newcomer of the Year category. Following a successful collaboration with BMW M Motorsport for the new BMW M4 GT4 that extensively uses Bcomp’s powerRibs™ and ampliTex™ natural fibre solutions and BMW iVentures recently taking a stake in Bcomp as lead investor in the Series B round, this award is another major step and recognition on the path to decarbonizing mobility.

“Innovations are key to the success of our transformation towards electromobility, digitalisation and sustainability. Our award ceremony recognises innovation and cooperative partnership with our suppliers – especially in challenging times,” said Joachim Post, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network at the ceremony held at BMW Welt in Munich.

BMW first started to work with Bcomp’s materials in 2019 when they used high-performance natural fibre composites in the BMW iFE.20 Formula E car. From this flax fibre reinforced cooling shaft, the collaboration evolved and soon after, the proprietary ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ natural fibre solutions were found successfully substituting selected carbon fibre components in DTM touring cars from BMW M Motorsport. By trickling down and expanding into other vehicle programs, such developments highlight the vital role that BMW M Motorsports plays as a technology lab for the entire BMW Group. This continues in the form of the latest collaboration with Bcomp to include a higher proportion of renewable raw materials in the successor of the BMW M4 GT4.

With the launch of the new BMW M4 GT4, it will be the serial GT car with the highest proportion of natural fibre components. Bcomp’s ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ flax fibre solutions can be found throughout the interior on the dashboard and centre console, as well as on bodywork components such as the hood, front splitter, doors, trunk, and rear wing. Aside from the roof, there are almost no carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) components that were not replaced by the renewable high-performance flax materials. “Product sustainability is increasing in importance in the world of motorsport too,” says Franciscus van Meel, Chairman of the Board of Management at BMW M GmbH.

Bcomp is a leading solutions provider for natural fibre reinforcements in high performance applications from race to space.

The company started as a garage project in 2011 with a mission to create lightweight yet high performance skis. The bCores™ were launched and successfully adopted by some of the biggest names in freeride skiing. The founders, material science PhDs from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), used flax fibres to reinforce the balsa cores and improve shear stiffness. Impressed by the excellent mechanical properties of flax fibres, the development to create sustainable lightweighting solutions for the wider mobility markets started.

Flax is an indigenous plant that grows naturally in Europe and has been part of the agricultural history for centuries. It requires very little water and nutrients to grow successfully. In addition, it acts as a rotational crop, thus enhancing harvests on existing farmland. Neither cultivation nor processing of the flax plants requires any chemicals that could contaminate ground water and harvesting is a completely mechanical process. After harvesting the entire flax plant can be used for feed, to make oil and its fibres are especially used for home textiles and clothing. The long fibre that comes from the flax plant possesses very good mechanical properties and outstanding damping properties in relation to its density, making it especially suited as a natural fibre reinforcement for all kinds of polymers.

The harvesting and processing of flax takes place locally in the rural areas it was grown in. Using European flax sourced through a well-established and transparent supply chain it allows to support the economic and social structure in rural areas thanks to the large and skilled workforce required to sustain the flax production. When it comes to the production of technical products like the powerRibs™ reinforcement grid, Bcomp is investing in local production capacities close to its headquarters in the city of Fribourg, Switzerland, thus creating new jobs and maintaining technical know-how in the area. The production is built to be as efficient as possible and with minimal environmental impact and waste.

Further strengthening the local economy, Bcomp aims to hire local companies for missions and with the headquarters being located in Fribourg’s “Blue Factory” district, Bcomp can both benefit from and contribute to the development of this sustainable and diverse quarter.

• Successful financing round for Empa spin-off Nahtlos

Nahtlos, an Empa spin-off, has received 1 million Swiss francs in a first round of financing from a network of business angels from Switzerland and Liechtenstein and from the Startfeld Foundation. With this funding, Nahtlos aims to drive the market entry of its newly developed textile-based electrode for medical applications.

Over the past two years, Nahtlos, an Empa spin-off, has developed novel textile-based electrodes for recording heart activity (electrocardiogram, ECG) – for example, to detect atrial fibrillation – and for electrostimulation therapies, for example, to preserve the muscle mass in paralyzed patients. Textile-based electrodes enable gentle and skin-friendly application, even if the electrodes have to be worn for several days or even weeks. The textile electrode is thus the first alternative to the gel electrode, which was developed 60 years ago and is still considered the standard for medical applications today.

Nahtlos founder and former Empa researcher Michel Schmid and co-founder and business economist José Näf have further developed the textile-based technology, which was developed and patented at Empa in various projects funded by Innosuisse, among others. The goal was to produce a product for long-term medical applications that reliably records ECG signals for up to several weeks, achieves a high level of patient acceptance and is cost-effective for the healthcare provider. Today, the patent for textile-based electrode technology is owned by Nahtlos after reaching a milestone.

Financing by business angels and Startfeld Foundation
Schmid and Näf were looking for investors to certify their product, set up production and develop the market – and recently found what they were looking for: In a seed financing round, the two young entrepreneurs were able to acquire 1 million Swiss francs from business angels from Switzerland and Liechtenstein as well as from the Startfeld Foundation. Nahtlos was supported in setting up its company by Startfeld, the start-up promotion arm of Switzerland Innovation Park Ost (SIP Ost), in the form of coaching, consulting and early-stage financing. Nahtlos is also based in the Innovation Park Ost, where innovations are initiated and accelerated through collaboration between start-ups, companies, universities and research institutions.

Together with Empa and Nahtlos, SIP Ost was present at OLMA this year. Visitors could learn live and on the spot about Empa's research activities in the field of Digital Health as well as about the Nahtlos technology and its textile electrodes for health monitoring.

Giant arsenals of unexploded ordinance are sitting on the ocean floor, lost in battle or dumped as waste. The risky job of detecting these underwater hazards is currently given to submarines specially fitted for the purpose. But even they cannot get to some of the tighter or harder to reach spots, forcing expert divers to go down and take over the often life-threatening work.

A German research consortium including Fraunhofer IZM is now using a submarine robot that is as nimble and mobile as a manta ray and equipped with innovative connected sensors on its fins to gather more information about its surroundings. It can measure water pressure so precisely that metal objects can be detected on the ocean floor, even if they are covered by sediment.

Unmanned underwater vehicles or UUVs have been in use for several years, but high-tech pioneers for reliable underwater communication and innovative bionics like EvoLogics GmbH have let themselves be inspired by marine life like manta rays and adapted their look and technical anatomy to the submarine world.

With the enormous “wingspan” of their fins, manta rays are known to cover vast distances, while their extremely flexible vertebrae means that they can make surprisingly sharp turns on their seemingly weightless journey through the sea. Their robotic cousins can be very agile as well, but they were not smart enough yet to replace the professional divers who had to scour the sea floor for hours, looking for lost ordinance from the First or Second World War or other hazardous metal waste before offshore wind farms could be built or intercontinental cables could be put down. Now, the new robo ray will make it possible to detect submarine hazards with a whole battery of sensors.

The “Bionic RoboSkin” project, supported by Germany’s Ministry of Education and Research, is working to give the manta-shaped UUVs a flexible bionic sensor skin to help them navigate their underwater world. The skin is made from a compound fabric that is fitted with sensor elements and water-resistant connectors to supply the sensors with power and transmit their data. Researchers from Fraunhofer IZM have taken on the challenge of developing these integrated sensor modules with which the UUVs can detect touch or the proximity of objects and virtually see and analyze their surroundings. The project consortium is headed by EvoLogics GmbH and includes other experts in the field from TITV Greiz, Sensorik Bayern GmbH, the diving specialists of BALTIC Taucherei- und Bergungsbetrieb Rostock GmbH, and GEO-DV GmbH, all with one mission: To create a new generation of robots that can support their human partners with a range of semi or fully automated services and functions.

Their capabilities will not be limited to the sea: The researchers are looking at a second use case for a land-based robot sensor platform, fittingly called “Badger” or “Dachs” in German. It will navigate by GPS and be fitted with ground penetrating radar to detect metal objects below ground or conduct other ground survey work in harder to reach places (including tunneling work).

Under the robotic manta ray’s deceptively lifelike shell lies intricate technology: A permeable and therefore pressure-neutral fabric skin is created and fitted with integrated microelectronics for touch, flow, motion, and position sensors. This textile skin is then pulled tight over the robotic fins, creating a soft robotics machine that can sense its surroundings. The team at Fraunhofer IZM is responsible for the electronics that make this possible: They developed sensor nodes suitable for submersible use that can collect and pre-process the sensor data. These nodes do not only have to be fit for purpose, they also need to be extremely miniaturized to fit underneath the thin fabric skin and integrate the necessary connectors. In active operations below the waterline, these sensors can track parameters like acceleration, pressure, or absorbency. The researchers also included LEDs in the circuit board design that let the robotic manta rays communicate with human divers, for instance to signal a turn.

All of these components and sensor packages are integrated by means of a highly miniaturized embedding method and protected from the cold and wet environment by a robust case. Despite this, the footprint of the embedded modules is amazingly small at 23 x 10.5 x 1.6 mm³, fitting a complete sensor package and microcontroller in something the size of a common door key. The case itself works as a conductor by creating the mechanical and electrical contact with the sensor skin itself. The researchers chose a modular two-part design from their original vision of the product: The embedding module combines the individual electronic components on a millimeter scale for exceptional integration; the module case acts as the mechanical interface with the skin and makes the system as robust as it has to be for its destined purpose. The coupling between module and case relies on a seemingly simple clipping action: Small pins on the connector surface on the skin and tiny hooks on the sensor module itself snap together to form an easily de- and attachable interface. The resulting system is modular to allow easy reconfiguration.

The researchers at Fraunhofer IZM will now subject their robotic manta ray to a series of tests with their project partners. The results and findings from the “Bionic RoboSkin” project will likely be of use for many other projects and contribute to more pressure-neutral and reliable packaging solutions for flexible, mobile, and smarter service robots.

The “Bionic RoboSkin” project is supported through the VDI/VDE-IT by the Ministry of Education and Research (funding code 16ES0914) as part of the federal government’s research and innovation campaign 2016 to 2020 “Microelectronics from Germany – Driver of Innovation for the Digital Economy”.

Patients with severe respiratory or lung diseases require intensive treatment and their lung function needs to be monitored on a continuous basis. As part of the Pneumo.Vest project, Fraunhofer researchers have developed a technology whereby noises in the lungs are recorded using a textile vest with integrated acoustic sensors. The signals are then converted and displayed visually using software. In this way, patients outside of intensive care units can still be monitored continuously. The technology increases the options for diagnosis and improves the patient’s quality of life.

For over 200 years, the stethoscope has been a standard tool for doctors and, as such, is a symbol of the medical profession. In television hospital dramas, doctors are seen rushing through the halls with a stethoscope around their neck. Experienced doctors do indeed use them to listen very accurately to heartbeats and the lungs and, as a result, to diagnose illnesses.

Now, the stethoscope is getting some help. As part of the Pneumo.Vest project, researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS at the Berlin office have developed a textile vest with integrated acoustic sensors, presenting a high-performance addition to the traditional stethoscope. Piezoceramic acoustic sensors have been incorporated into the front and back of the vest to register any noise produced by the lungs in the thorax, no matter how small. A software program records the signals and electronically amplifies them, while the lungs are depicted visually on a display. As the software knows the position of each individual sensor, it can attribute the data to its precise location. This produces a detailed acoustic and optical picture of the ventilation situation of all parts of the lungs. Here is what makes it so special: As the system collects and stores the data permanently, examinations can take place at any given time and in the absence of hospital staff. Pneumo.Vest also indicates the status of the lungs over a period of time, for example over the previous 24 hours. Needless to say, traditional auscultation can also be carried out directly on the patients. However, instead of carrying out auscultation manually at different points with a stethoscope, a number of sensors are used simultaneously.

“Pneumo.Vest is not looking to make the stethoscope redundant and does not replace the skills of experienced pneumologists. However, auscultation or even CT scans of the lungs only ever present a snapshot at the time of the examination. Our technology provides added value because it allows for the lungs to be monitored continuously in the same way as a long-term ECG, even if the patient is not attached to machines in the ICU but has instead been admitted to the general ward,” explains Ralf Schallert, project manager at Fraunhofer IKTS.

Machine learning algorithms aid with diagnosis
Alongside the acoustic sensors, the software is at the core of the vest. It is responsible for storing, depicting and analyzing the data. It can be used by the doctor to view the acoustic events in specific individual areas of the lungs on the display. The use of algorithms in digital signal processing enables a targeted evaluation of acoustic signals. This means it is possible, for example, to filter out heartbeats or to amplify characteristic frequency ranges, making lung sounds, such as rustling or wheezing, much easier to hear.

On top of this, the researchers at Fraunhofer IKTS are developing machine learning algorithms. In the future, these will be able to structure and classify complex ambient noises in the thorax. Then, the pneumologist will carry out the final assessment and diagnosis.

Discharge from the ICU
Patients can also benefit from the digital sensor alternative. When wearing the vest, they can recover without requiring constant observation from medical staff. They can transfer to the general ward and possibly even be sent home and move about more or less freely. Despite this, the lungs are monitored continuously, and any sudden deterioration can be reported to medical personnel straight away.

The first tests with staff at the University Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy at the University of Magdeburg have shown that the concept is successful in practice. “The feedback from doctors was overwhelmingly positive. The combination of acoustic sensors, visualization and machine learning algorithms will be able to reliably distinguish a range of different lung sounds,” explains Schallert. Dr. Alexander Uhrig from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is also pleased with the technology. The specialist in infectiology and pneumology at the renowned Charité hospital was one of those who initiated the idea: “Pneumo.Vest addresses exactly what we need. It serves as an instrument that expands our diagnostic options, relieves the burden on our hospital staff and makes hospital stays more pleasant for patients.”

The technology was initially designed for respiratory patients, but it also works well for people in care facilities and for use in sleep laboratories. It can also be used to train young doctors in auscultation.

Increased need for clinical-grade wearables
With Pneumo.Vest, the researchers at Fraunhofer IKTS have developed a product that is cut out for the increasingly strained situation at hospitals. In Germany, 385,000 patients with respiratory or lung diseases require inpatient treatment every year. Over 60 percent are connected to a ventilator for more than 24 hours. This figure does not account for the current increase in respiratory patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of increasing life expectancy, the medical industry also expects the number of older patients with breathing problems to increase. With the help of technology from Fraunhofer IKTS, the burden on hospitals and, in particular, costly ICUs can be relieved as their beds will no longer be occupied for quite as long.

It should be added that the market for such clinical-grade wearables is growing rapidly. These are compact medical devices that can be worn directly on the body to measure vital signs such as heartbeat, blood oxygen saturation, respiratory rate or skin temperature. As a medical device that can be used flexibly, Pneumo.Vest fits in perfectly with this development. But do not worry: Doctors will still be using the beloved stethoscope in the future.

Fraunhofer “M³ Infekt” cluster project
Pneumo.Vest is just one part of the extensive M³ Infekt cluster project. Its objective is to develop monitoring systems for the decentralized monitoring of patients. The current basis of the project is the treatment of COVID-19 patients. With the SARS-CoV2 virus, it is common for even mild cases to suddenly deteriorate significantly. By continuously monitoring vital signs, any deterioration in condition can be quickly identified and prompt measures for treatment can be taken.

M3 Infekt can also be used for a number of other symptoms and scenarios. The systems have been designed to be modular and multimodal so that biosignals such as heart rate, ECG, oxygen saturation, or respiratory rate and volume can be measured, depending on the patient and illness.

A total of ten Fraunhofer institutes are working on the cluster project under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Dresden. Klinikum Magdeburg, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University Hospitals of Erlangen and Dresden are involved as clinical partners.

When plastics enter the environment, this brings with it many negative effects: these range from suffocating living organisms to transfer within the food chain and physical effects on an ecosystem. In addition, there are dangers from the release of additives, monomers and critical intermediates of metabolic processes, the metabolites.

How great the long-term impact of plastic emissions actually is, is not yet clear at the present time. In order to create a political decision-making basis for dealing with plastic emissions, researchers from Fraunhofer UMSICHT and the Ruhr University Bochum have therefore developed a budget approach and an LCA impact assessment methodology in the "PlastikBudget" project from December 2017 to the end of August 2021. The researchers have now completed the project. The result: When driving a car, a person emits more than half of their individual plastic emission budget through tire wear.

How big is the long-term impact of plastic emissions?
Six percent of global petroleum consumption goes to the plastics industry - and the trend is rising. While the plastics industry is an important economic factor in many countries, more and more plastic waste ends up in soils and oceans. Mostly in the form of highly mobile, small to large plastic fragments, plastic emissions can no longer be recovered from the environment. At the same time, the long-term effects of plastic in the environment are hardly predictable.

Due to the global and cross-generational dimension of the problem, it is important that science, industry and consumers work together to find a solution. One goal of the joint project PlastikBudget is therefore to quantify today's plastic emissions and to derive a plastic emissions budget. On this basis, the researchers can formulate quantitative emission targets that can be used to legitimize political decisions. In particular, the path from empirically verified data and normative values to a concrete emissions budget forms the core objective of the project.

From research to per capita emissions budget
Starting with a basic research on plastic quantities in the environment, the project addresses two major topics: The development of a budget approach and the development of an impact assessment method that can be used in life cycle assessments to consider potential environmental impacts of plastic emissions. Participatory formats complete the project. In this way, the results are anchored in political and scientific discourse. In the course of the project, the researchers will answer the following questions: What quantities of plastic are currently being discharged and what quantities have already accumulated? What quantities of plastic in the environment are still acceptable? How long does it take for plastics to degrade in real environmental compartments? How are the risks posed by different plastic emissions adequately represented? Finally, from the answers, they calculate a value for current emissions and what they consider to be an acceptable emissions budget.

250 million tonnes of PPE for 7.8 billion people
To measure plastic pollution, the researchers in the PlastikBudget project have developed the persistence-weighted plastic emission equivalent (PPE for short). This represents a virtual mass that takes into account the period of time until a specific plastic emission is degraded, e.g. in soil, freshwater or seawater. Relevant properties for this are the location of the emission, the material type, the shape of the plastic emission as well as the size of the emitted plastic part and the final environmental compartment in which the plastic remains. In the case of plastics that degrade completely within one year, the plastic emission equivalent corresponds to the real mass. If the degradation time is longer, it increases accordingly.

"Based on the thesis that the total amount of plastics already accumulated in the environment today has just reached a critical quantity, we were able to calculate a global plastic emission budget of 250 million tonnes of PPE," explains Jürgen Bertling, project manager of the project and scientist at Fraunhofer UMSICHT. "If each of the 7.8 billion people is allocated the same emission rights, this results in an individual budget of 31.9 kilograms of PPE per person and year."

Driving consumes half of the individual plastic budget
However, tire wear from driving alone corresponds to a plastic emission equivalent of 16.5 kg PPE per year and thus consumes more than 50 per cent of an individual's budget. Even waste from ten coffee-to-go disposable cups would consume 13.5 kg of PPE per year, more than a third of one's budget. "This is because the plastics used in disposable cups are more difficult to degrade than the rubber in the tire," explains Jan Blömer from Fraunhofer UMSICHT, who played a key role in developing the calculation methodology. The consumption of a coil of polyamide for a lawn trimmer, which releases microplastics when used, also weighs in considerably at 5.1 kilograms of PPE. Microbeads in cosmetics or the one-time sanding of a front door, on the other hand, consume significantly less of the individual emissions budget with 1.1 kg PPE and 0.5 kg PPE, but are still quite relevant in the overall balance.

Many other everyday activities also lead to plastic emissions. Nevertheless, the researchers show that the calculated budget limits can be met in various scenarios. However, such a scenario also entails considerable effort and massive changes in the way we deal with plastics today. One possible scenario to meet the budget would be a reduction of emissions by more than 50 per cent, if at the same time at least 50 per cent of all emissions consisted of readily degradable plastics.

Further work on accounting for plastic emissions in life cycle assessments
The persistence-weighted plastic emission equivalent developed in the PlastikBudget project could also represent a new impact category in life cycle assessments in the future. "With the help of factors that reflect the persistence of plastics in the environment, it will be possible in future to compare different product alternatives in terms of their plastic emission footprints," says Dr Daniel Maga, who is coordinating the corresponding further development of the life cycle assessment methodology at Fraunhofer UMSICHT. A corresponding exchange with companies is taking place here. However, implementation in the life cycle assessment methodology and the associated software solutions requires broad acceptance in the scientific community and must be prepared in corresponding standardisation committees.

The project is part of the research priority "Plastics in the Environment" (PidU) of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), in which 18 collaborative projects with around 100 partners from science, industry, associations, municipalities and practice want to clarify fundamental questions about the production, use and disposal of plastics. The research focus "Plastics in the Environment - Sources, Shrinking, Solutions" is part of the Green Economy flagship initiative of the BMBF framework programme "Research for Sustainable Development" (FONA3).

IN4climate.NRW publishes discussion paper

Not only private households, but above all industrial companies have a high demand for heat. On the way to climate neutrality, greater focus must be placed on the supply of process heat to the industry - especially in the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). This is shown by the discussion paper of the climate protection think tank IN4climate.NRW.

In 2020, process heat accounted for a large percentage of industrial energy demand - 67 percent of the energy consumed by German industry - and is still predominantly supplied by fossil fuels (BMWi 2021a). That's almost 20 percent of Germany's total energy demand. No wonder: Whether glass, metal, cement or paper are melted, forged, fired or dried - all these processes require process heat. And in some cases up to a temperature of 3,000 °C.

In the discussion paper "Process heat for a climate-neutral industry (Prozesswärme für eine klimaneutrale Industrie)", IN4climate.NRW formulates approaches and recommendations for action for a process heat transition. A total of thirteen partners of the initiative have signed the paper.

Samir Khayat, Managing Director of NRW.Energy4-Climate: "The switch to sustainable process heat supply is one of the decisive factors in ensuring that the transformation of industry can succeed. With the IN4climate.NRW initiative, we are bringing together the expertise from science, politics as well as industry, and developing concrete strategies to put climate neutrality in industry into practice."

Various figures illustrate the need for action: Only 6 percent of the energy required for process heat has so far been covered by renewable energies. Electricity also currently accounts for only 8 percent - as an energy source, it is still far from emission-free in today's electricity mix, but must become so in the future through the switch to 100 percent renewables.

NRW alone needs 40 percent of the process heat required by the whole of Germany
Tania Begemann, Project Manager Industry and Production at NRW.Energy4Climate and author of the paper: "The sustainable conversion of process heat has always been an important and urgent topic at IN4climate.NRW, but it becomes even more explosive in times of a global energy crisis. It is estimated that NRW alone requires 40 percent of the process heat required by the whole of Germany. In order to remain economically strong and an industrial state in the long term, it is therefore of particular importance for NRW to become independent of fossil process heat sources in the near future. We would like to draw attention to this with this paper. At the same time, this enormous challenge also offers NRW the opportunity to become a pioneer."

How can this be accomplished? The discussion paper shows central approaches and recommendations for action:

• Increase efficiency: The development and use of high-temperature heat pumps should be specifically promoted within the framework of pilot plants and concepts. In addition, companies should be supported in the development and implementation of concepts that minimize process temperatures and use waste heat within the company.
• Promote renewable heat sources: Local, renewable energy sources such as deep geothermal energy and solar thermal energy can be an important component of climate-neutral process heat supply and at the same time reduce the reliance on energy imports. Where renewables can supply industrial heating needs, they should be used. These forms of energy should therefore be supported in a targeted manner through inquiries and tenders.
• Increase renewable electricity: The electrification of processes and applications is the prerequisite for the energy transition. Expanding renewable power generation along with a solid power grid, creating competitive prices for green power, and developing flexible systems are therefore key tasks.
• Promote storable alternative energy sources: To be able to generate process heat even when renewable energies are not available, industry needs large quantities of storable energy carriers. In particular, sustainable hydrogen must be available at competitive prices and the necessary conditions, such as a transport and storage infrastructure, must be created. In addition to hydrogen, biomass is a valuable and storable energy carrier and raw material at the same time. This limited resource must therefore be used in a targeted and efficient manner.

The climate-neutral generation of process heat is of great importance for the whole of Germany, but especially for the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and at the same time represents a major challenge. The heat transition in industry requires an overall systemic and supraregional view and strategy development. On the one hand, such strategies should take into account the interaction of different sectors. On the other hand, they should include all heat requirements - from buildings to industry. In this paper, decision-makers from politics, industry and society will find initial reference points and impulses for this important, common task.

The paper was developed by the IN4climate.NRW initiative under the umbrella of the NRW.Energy4Climate state organization. It is supported by the institutes Fraunhofer UMSICHT, RWTH Aachen (Chair of Technical Thermodynamics), the VDZ research institute as well as the Wuppertal Institute, the companies Amprion, Currenta, Deutsche Rohstofftechnik (German raw material technology - RHM Group), Georgsmarienhütte, Kabel Premium Pulp and Paper, Lhoist, Pilkington Germany (NSG Group) and Speira as well as the Federal Association of the German Glass Industry.

Most people want to live as independently as possible in old age. Exhibitors at the industry's leading trade fair ALTENPFLEGE from April 26 to 28 in Essen, Germany will be showing how senior facilities with modern interior design and smart equipment meet this need.

Demand for forms of housing such as service living is on the rise. Studies predict a need for around 540,000 new service living units in the coming years. One of the major trends at this year's 32nd edition of the Altenpflege trade fair is how senior facilities are meeting the rapidly growing demand with flexible room design and digital support. They can be seen in the Aveneo special show, including intelligent systems for stove shut-off, lighting control and room temperature, as well as for fall sensors and emergency calls.

Future tenants or buyers of serviced apartments are prepared to invest specifically in their own living environment (source: Terragon study 2021). The focus is on a feel-good atmosphere, a high level of security and the option of using care services if required. "This can be facilitated by a cleverly thought-out arrangement of the rooms within a serviced apartment, for example by arranging the bathroom and bedroom right next to each other and making the wall with the washbasin rotatable," explains Carolin Pauly, managing director of Universal Rooms, which considers itself to be the interface between the wishes of the operators and the products in the serviced apartment market. "The furniture and furnishings industry is called upon to design modern collections with hidden product features that make life easier in old age," Pauly demands. This could be, for example, a grab handle built into the washbasin or a dining table that can be accessed by a wheelchair.

Lighting management also plays an important role. It should convey a sense of well-being and security as well as provide orientation and safety. Age-related clinical pictures in particular place high demands on lighting. Here, lighting systems that simulate the natural day and night rhythm can provide help.

Living, care and digitalization combined
The Chief Executive Officer of the Evangelische Heimstiftung (EHS - Evangelical Home Foundation), Bernhard Schneider, sees "an individually and comfortably furnished apartment that uses intelligent technology to provide a great deal of security and self-determination" as the senior living of the future. "I am certain: In the future, in a sector-free setting, we will have to understand housing, nursing and care, and digitalization even more strongly as building blocks that can be combined as needed."

According to Schneider, this starts with housing: In a nursing apartment or an assisted living apartment, in a shared apartment or other form of communal living, in a residence or an intergenerational project. All forms of housing should be well integrated into the neighborhood - this requires reliable, financed advisory structures, for example through neighborhood managers. In addition, there is care, support and assistance, in the form of day or night care, a mobile service or volunteers. "And technology, for example through our Aladien system, i.e. with intelligent home emergency call, fall sensors, stove shut-off, roller shutters and light control, video door telephony, etc. In the future, Aladien will evolve into a service robot," predicts Schneider.

This makes it possible for people to live a self-determined life and participate in society, even in old age. That's what people want, he says: a pleasant living environment, social contacts, cultural offerings and the certainty that someone will take care of them if necessary. "What we need for this is political commitment in the form of an ambitious funding program for modern forms of housing in old age," demands the EHS CEO. This would not only help the older generation, but young families could also benefit because this would free up the far too spacious apartments and terraced houses of the older generation for them.

ALTENPFLEGE – Trade fair and congress for the care industry since 1990
The traditional leading trade show for the care industry has so far been held alternately in Hanover and Nuremberg. From this year it alternates between Essen and Nuremberg. It covers all segments of professional geriatric care: services and products for care and therapy, occupation and education, IT and management, nutrition and home economics, textiles and hygiene as well as space and technology. In more than 30 lecture blocks, the accompanying trade congress covers the current topics of the industry, such as digitalization, the future of professional nursing care, hospice and palliative care, training or the new collectively agreed payment under the Healthcare Development Act (Gesundheitsversorgungsweiterentwicklungsgesetz - GVWG).