Abstract: The invention provides a textile panel including a knitted or woven textile layer (12) having yarn of a first type (14), and a coating applied to at least one face of the textile layer. The textile layer includes at least one textile sensor (18) formed by an electrically conductive region of the textile layer which includes yarn (16) of a second type incorporated in the knit or weave of the textile layer, the second type of yarn being electrically conductive. The invention also provides a method of manufacturing a textile panel, including knitting or weaving a textile layer (12) using a first type of yarn (14) and a second type of yarn (16), the second type of yarn being incorporated in the knit or weave of the textile layer in at least one predetermined region to form a textile sensor, the method further including applying a coating to the textile layer.

Abstract: A combined sensor adapted to measure at least one medical or clinical sign is provided. The combined sensor comprises a textile sensor configured so as to determine pressure applied to the combined sensor; and an optical sensor. The optical sensor typically comprises at least one fibre-optic sensor (FOS) and may function as a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, optionally a reflectance mode photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor. The combined sensor is able to eliminate motion artefacts caused by movement of a subject wearing the sensor thereby facilitating long-term ambulatory monitoring of subjects.