T
A garment commonly used in sports, the leggings of the future will incorporate advanced textile structures with intelligent systems of electrostimulation, heating, massage, and localized compression.
CeNTI, Tintex (and its subsidiary Hata), CITEVE, and the Faculty of Sports of the University of Porto is developing leggings that will allow you to optimize and accelerate the muscle recovery process after physical exercise. In addition to reducing recovery time, the technological solution will increase sports efficiency and performance, states CeNTI.
“These intelligent systems act at the level of the textile structure, the combination of both being the differentiating aspect compared to other commercial solutions. For the development of massage and compression systems, materials with shape memory will be integrated by textile processes. For the development of electrostimulation systems, conductive wires will be incorporated by textile processes and, for the creation of heating systems, heating circuits through printed electronics will be included in the textile structure”, reveal the researchers.
Although the project (called Wear2Heal) is still under development, expectations regarding its entry and receptivity in the market are positive. “The consortium is very interested in marketing the developed solutions”, a subject in charge of Tintex, which, in addition to the markets where it has already established itself (Portugal, Germany, Sweden, among others), intends to stimulate new markets, such as the United States and Japan.
In addition to leggings, advanced textile structures can, in the future, be applied to other garments. The Wear2Heal project, which started in July 2019, and ends in December this year, emerged from the survey of needs identified by the consortium, taking into account the evolution and trends of an increasingly competitive market and focused on more sustainable, efficient, and innovative solutions.