Coming soon, customized sports bras

Researchers are attempting to develop a more supportive bra, which suit the comfort level of every woman wearing them.

Minyoung Suh , assistant professor of apparel, textiles and interior design, is researching the movement of breast tissue in order to develop a better supportive sports bra.

Suh said that even though two bras may be the same size, the space inside the cup might be different depending on the design or the composition of the bra.

She added that ideally the bra should be customized to every woman's shape and size but that's difficult commercially, but the researchers are trying to make it as close as possible.

Due to this, many large-breasted women have a difficult time exercising or may not even try.

Suh claimed that by designing the sports bra differently, they can control the breast's movement, which is mainly up and down, but there is also in and out, and side to side.

She said that most of the support provided should be to lift the breast up and the research reveals that sports bras provide a lot of pressure inward, which constricts the torso rather than supports upward.

Even though shoulder straps function to lift the breast up, but pressure from the strap could be another source of discomfort.

For the study, Suh is using a 3-D body scanner to measure volume of breasts, a motion capture system to track movement of tissue and pressure sensor system to measure the user's degree of uncomfortable.

Once Suh is finished calculating breast volume, movement and pressure, she will research the comfort and functional aspects of designing a bra that will support breasts effectively.