EAGER: A Magneto-Inductive Framework for Seamless Monitoring of Joint Kinematics

今天监测关节运动学的黄金标准需要使用放置在人体上的反射标记，并由红外摄像机跟踪。虽然技术仅限于实验室环境，但替代方法也限制在人为环境中，这些环境引人注目且容易出错，或者阻碍自然运动。这项急切的研究将通过开发一种新的服装类别，依靠刺绣电子纺织线圈来监测个人自然环境中的关节运动学，从而全面解决这些挑战。这项工作的结果是，为医疗保健、体育和制造工作等各种应用预见了新的和未开发的机会。这项研究还预计将重新定义“可穿戴设备”一词，从散装、刚性的身体传感器到无缝功能的面料。除了技术工作，还提出了创造性的教育和推广努力，利用电子纺织品的实践和跨学科吸引力来激励该领域的学生，吸引工程领域的女性，并教育公众。这项急切的研究旨在探索一种未经测试但具有潜在变革性的磁感应框架的可行性，用于监测个人自然环境中的关节运动学，同时克服最先进的缺点。拟议的框架依赖于刺绣在服装(紧身裤、袖子等)中的电子纺织线圈。无缝监控关节屈曲/旋转，应用范围广泛，包括运动、康复、游戏、人机交互等。迄今报告的用于监测关节运动学的技术局限于人为环境(摄像机)；突出且存在积分漂移(惯性测量单位)；需要视线(飞行时间传感器)；和/或阻碍自然运动(弯曲/变形传感器)。相比之下，这项热切的研究利用变压器原理和关节屈曲/旋转之间的令人信服的类比，实现了一种克服上述限制的新型线圈功能服装。我们的研究将首先探索通过缠绕线圈监测关节屈曲(与肢体旋转无关)的可行性。然后，将通过混合缠绕/纵向线圈来探索关节屈曲和旋转的同步监测。最终将发挥现实世界的考虑，以增强知识库。在不失去一般性的情况下，重点将放在膝关节上；然而，这项研究的成功有望建立必要的信心和工具，以监测其他关节的屈曲/旋转，并最终监测全身运动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Today's gold-standard for monitoring joint kinematics entails the use of reflective markers placed upon the human body and tracked by infrared cameras. While technique is limited to laboratory environments, alternative approaches are also restricted to contrived environments, are obtrusive and error-prone, or obstruct natural movement. This EAGER research will overall these challenges by developing a new class of garments that rely on embroidered E-textile coils to monitor joint kinematics in the individual's natural environment. As a result of this work, new and unexplored opportunities are envisioned for applications as diverse as healthcare, sports, and manufacturing work. This research is also anticipated to re-define the term "wearables" from bulk, rigid on-body sensors to seamlessly functionalized fabrics. Alongside the technical work, creative education and outreach efforts are proposed that leverage the hands-on and inter-disciplinary appeal of E-textiles to inspire students in the field, attract females in engineering, and educate the general public.This EAGER research aims to explore the feasibility of an untested but potentially transformative magneto-inductive framework for monitoring joint kinematics in the individual's natural environment while overcoming shortcomings in the state-of-the-art. The proposed framework relies on E-textile coils embroidered into garments (leggings, sleeves, etc.) to seamlessly monitor joint flexion/rotation, reaching out to applications as diverse as sports, rehabilitation, gaming, human-machine interaction, and more. Technologies reported to date for monitoring joint kinematics are bounded to contrived environments (cameras); are obtrusive and suffer from integration drift (inertial measurement units); require line-of-sight (time-of-flight sensors); and/or obstruct natural movement (bending/deformation sensors). By contrast, this EAGER research leverages a compelling analogy between transformer principles and joint flexion/rotation to realize a new class of coil-functionalized garments that overcome the limitations above. Our research will first explore the feasibility of monitoring joint flexion (irrespective of limb rotation) via wrap-around coils. Concurrent monitoring of joint flexion and rotation will then be explored via hybrid wrap-around/longitudinal coils. Real-world considerations will finally be brought into play to enhance the knowledgebase. Without loss of generality, focus will be on the knee joint; yet success of this research is expected to build the confidence and tools necessary to monitor flexion/rotation of other joints and, ultimately, full-body motion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.