BIOELECTRIC TEXTILES · 01
Many of today's wearable health tech devices are very good at "reading" the body's electrical signals. However, observing (reading) is only half of the interface. In this article, we take a look at how sensing (READ) and electrical stimulation (WRITE) actually work, how they can be connected in a closed loop, and where textile electrode platforms like the ElecSil fit into that picture.
Update date: July 2026
Why is "reading" the body only half of the interface?
Over the past decade, wearable devices have greatly improved our ability to listen to our bodies. Heart rate straps, ECG smartwatches, EMG armbands, and sleep trackers—all share similar design patterns. It captures electrical signals, processes them, and presents them as insights to users. This is the "READ" side of wearable interfaces, and it has matured rapidly, partly because it is a relatively closed engineering challenge. This is the realm of passive electrodes, amplifiers, and sufficient signal processing to remove noise.
Meanwhile, “sending” information back to the body—not just measuring signals, but delivering controlled signals—is still a less mature area of the wearables industry as a whole. Many products on the market today are specifically designed to either "read" or "write" the body, and few do both through the same soft skin-contact interface. To understand why, we need to view READ and WRITE as essentially different engineering challenges that just happen to share the same point of contact -- the skin.
READ：Whether the body is connected to the air and the air is connected to the body, it is necessary to use the equipment.
Before every beat of the heart and every contraction of a muscle, an electrical phenomenon always occurs within the body. An electrocardiogram (ECG) captures the electrical activity of the heart: depolarization and repolarization as the heart muscle pumps. An electromyogram (EMG) captures the electrical activity of muscles, the signals that motor neurons send to muscle fibers to cause them to contract. In both cases, the sensors attached to the skin aren't reading abstract scores like "heart health" or "muscle strength." It picks up extremely small and extremely fast voltage fluctuations that are transmitted to the skin surface from electrical phenomena within the body.
Electroencephalography (EEG) is an application of the same basic principle, replacing the object with the brain. Electrodes detect electrical potential differences caused by nerve activity on the scalp rather than on the chest or extremities. EEG typically requires higher electrode densities and handles much smaller signal amplitudes, making it a more difficult sensing case for wearable textile electrodes than ECG and EMG, but they are broadly in the same READ technology category.
For these signals to be useful, the electrodes must do more than just touch the skin. Even during operation, sweat, and repeated use, it must maintain a stable connection and not introduce enough noise to drown out the signal it's meant to capture. That's why the material and construction of the electrode itself, as well as the amplifier and the software behind it, become real engineering variables rather than afterthoughts.
WRITE：What is it like to believe in the body?
Another direction of bioelectric interface is WRITE. Rather than reading signals from the body, it sends intentionally designed electrical signals to the body. This is the area of electrical stimulation technologies such as EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation), NMES (Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation), FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation), and TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation). All have in common that they deliver current through skin-contact electrodes, but their intended purposes, waveforms, and usage contexts are different. Each has a different role, such as those that focus on inducing muscle contraction, those that are involved in regulating pain, and those that send pulses in time with specific functional movements such as taking a step or opening a hand when walking.
The scope of WRITE goes beyond muscle and nerve stimulation for the purposes of training, rehabilitation, and pain management. Electrohaptic haptics—a technology that creates the sensation of touch or pressure by sending small, controlled electrical pulses to the skin rather than the vibrations used in many consumer haptics today—is also being investigated as a feedback channel in augmented reality (XR) and robotics. Situations are envisioned in which users need to "feel" virtual objects or signals coming from remotely controlled machines.
What all of these WRITE-based applications have in common is that the results are largely dependent on the system as a whole, rather than the electrode alone. Even the same contact surface can support completely different purposes depending on the waveform, intensity, timing, and control logic that are layered on top of it. That's why the results of WRITE should not be presented as definitive effects, but should be talked about carefully, such as ``it has the potential to support...'', ``research is underway on...'', and ``it can be designed for...''. Textile electrodes do not themselves produce training or rehabilitation outcomes; they are just one part of a larger design system that requires controllers, software, clear safety limits, and validation of health outcomes if they are to be claimed.
What happens when READ and WRITE connect?
The most interesting possibilities for bioelectric wearables lie not in looking at READ and WRITE in isolation, but at the intersection of the two. In a closed-loop system, the interface reads the body's responses, adjusts the stimulation it sends based on the readings, and then reads and confirms the results again. In concept, such mechanisms could allow the system to self-adjust to individual users, account for fatigue during a session, and better align pulses with specific timing of movements.
Now, it's worth saying exactly what this means for now. This type of closed loop is a well-defined engineering concept, and various versions of it are actively being considered in research and development.
However, achieving a reliable closed loop requires more than just good electrodes. It requires clean signal quality during operation, low enough latency for adjustments to be meaningful, carefully considered safety limits, and validation to match claims if it is to be positioned as a health or rehabilitation outcome.
ElecSil is being investigated as a shared wearable contact layer that such systems need for both READ and WRITE functions. It is not itself a closed-loop product.
| READ | READ + WRITE | WRITE |
|---|---|---|
| ECG and EMG monitoring | Stimulus adjustment based on response | EMS、NMES、FES、TENS |
| Muscle activity tracking during exercise | Rehabilitation movement feedback | Recovery/Training/Functional Assistance System |
| Long-term biosignal collection | human machine interface | Multichannel electrotactile interface |
Why is ElecSil located at the center of this interface?
Both READ and WRITE rely on the same underlying requirements. It is a stable, comfortable and repeatable electrical contact between the body and electronic systems. ElecSil is the platform of Wave Company for its contact layer. The combination of conductive silicone and textile construction creates flexible, washable electrodes that can be integrated into the garment itself, rather than a separate disposable patch.
It's also worth mentioning exactly what ElecSil does here. ElecSil provides the interface itself to acquire or deliver the signal; it is not the role of ElecSil to interpret the EMG waveform, determine when to fire a stimulation pulse, or determine the meaning of the readings. These functions are performed by electronic circuits, firmware, and software that are layered on top of the electrodes. The ElecSil is at the center of the READ/WRITE relationship not because it performs both functions by itself, but because it is designed to be the only physical component that can be shared by both sides of the system.
This has practical implications for product development teams. Rather than designing sensing and stimulation electrodes in separate materials, form factors, and even areas on the garment, a sharable textile electrode platform can be designed once and configured to match the signals and stimulation modes required by each product.
Where is this READ/WRITE interface applied?
Digital health and rehabilitation
READ technologies such as ECG and EMG monitoring and WRITE technologies such as NMES and FES can both support rehabilitation-focused products. Applications range from garments designed to monitor patient signals to garments designed to deliver stimulation as part of a program supervised by healthcare professionals. Products in this category generally need to be developed in collaboration with clinical partners and regulatory authorities, rather than as standalone textile components.
sports and strength training
Textile electrodes are already being utilized in the area of tracking muscle activation during exercise with EMG and combining it with training stimulation using EMS, and research continues toward applications in training support wearables for athletes and general consumers.
XR and electrotactile haptics
Controlled electrotactile pulses sent through a textile interface can give XR users the sensation of touch or contact with virtual objects. Although this is a promising field, it currently remains primarily an exploratory application in the prototype stage rather than a widespread consumer feature.
Robotics and human-machine interfaces
Soft, skin-contact electrode layers can help both read the user's muscular intentions and deliver feedback to systems like exosuits and remote-controlled robots. This direction is at the stage of active research rather than widespread commercial deployment, and the results will depend largely on the surrounding control systems.
Which ones are currently in practical use, and which ones are still in the research stage?
What's currently available
- Dry textile electrode (no gel required for contact)
- EMG・ECG・EEG
- Configuration of EMS and electrotactile stimulation interfaces
- Custom electrode sizes, shapes, and connector options for partner development
Currently under research
- Completely closed-loop stimulation as an integrated product (read → adjust → recheck)
- Functional rehabilitation garments designed around FES or NMES
- XR interaction system using electro-tactile feedback
- Exosuit and robotics control interface
- Long-term home muscle monitoring for daily use
Frequently asked questions
ElecSil What is it?
ElecSil can be configured as the electrode interface for either function and, depending on the system design, may support both. Whether a particular product reads signals, delivers stimulation, or does both is determined by the electronics and software built around the electrodes, rather than by ElecSil alone.
Is ElecSil a medical device?
No. ElecSil is an electrode/conductive fabric material platform and is not a complete medical device. Products with medical claims must undergo separate product-level validation and regulatory approvals commensurate with the claims and target market.
Does ElecSil work without gel?
ElecSil is a dry-contact textile electrode designed to provide an electrical connection without the need for a separate conductive gel.
However, signal quality in a particular application still depends on the overall system design, including skin contact, clothing fit, and electronics, so each use case should be evaluated rather than relying on materials alone.
Can the shape and size of the electrode be customized?
Yes. Electrode shape, size, channel placement, and connector type can be tailored to the partner's product requirements, target body region, and intended signal/stimulation mode.
How can a company evaluate ElecSil samples?
Interested teams can first request standard samples to evaluate electrical and mechanical performance for their use case. Once initial fit is confirmed, you can move on to custom electrode sizing, patterning, fabric selection, and connector design.
For those designing wearables that need to read or deliver signals, or both.
Learn more about ElecSil Request for samples/consultation on introduction
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This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
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