“Intelligent bra” with sensors
Women could be spared the discomfort and even injury caused by poor bra design because the Scientists from the University of Wollongong in Australia have developed an "intelligent fabric" with its own sensors that can be used to design bras for women more accurately.
As many as 80 per cent of women are thought to be wearing the wrong bra, increasing the risk of pain and nerve damage caused by bra straps, particularly during exercise.
Experts found that even the minority in the right size bras could still be at risk of long-term injury because much of the support is given by the straps that bear down on their shoulders.
The vertical movement of the chest can exceed 70mm (almost three inches) during vigorous effort and they say the stresses and strains can affect nerves around the shoulders so seriously that it causes numbness in fingers. Better support is needed because the female breast contains no supportive muscle or bone.
"A consequence of current brassiere design is that the brassiere straps bear much of the load generated by breast momentum during physical activity," say the researchers from the University.
"As breast mass increases, breast bounce momentum also increases, placing large loads on the straps and, in turn, excessive pressure on the wearer's shoulders." They add: "Apart from strap-related pain, many females, particularly large-breasted women, are restricted from participating in physical activity due to exercise-induced breast pain associated with excessive vertical breast displacement."
They have now designed a special fabric with in-built sensors to detect movement as women walk and jog.
This could help manufacturers produce more comfortable bras.
Two women aged 30 and 39 with a 36D and a 38DD brassiere took part in the research where they walked at 7 kilometres an hour (4.3 miles an hour) and jogged at 10 kilometres an hour. The greatest vertical movement was monitored in the larger woman at a maximum of 68mm during jogging. That compared to a maximum of 53mm in the smaller woman. Movement during walking ranged from 11 to 25 mm.
The researchers say future bra designs must limit excessive breast movement without causing discomfort. "It is imperative that brassiere designers have access to methods that can accurately and reliably quantify the effects of various brassiere design features on breast motion while not altering the material properties of the brassiere," they say. "However, most commercially available technologies have traditionally been comprised of rigid parts, such as strain gauges or buckle transducers, which can interfere with performance."
They say recent advances in polymer science allow sensors to be built into fabrics to monitor human motion. "Our results show that the fabric sensors are suitable to monitor breast motion and brassiere function," they say. "Brassiere designers will have the ability directly to assess the effects of changes to each brassiere component on vertical breast and brassiere motion using fabric sensors."
