PFI-TT: Smart Gloves for Remote Clinical Assessments and Treatment Monitoring

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation-Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to enhance the quality of care provided to patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, arthritis, and hand injuries or other conditions. Parkinson's disease (PD) alone has a very high prevalence in the US. PD will affect nearly 930,000 people by 2020 and is projected to increase to 1.2 Million by 2030. Through the incorporation of wearable technology for clinically valid movement assessment, doctors can utilize telemedicine tools to provide a more optimized care plan to their patients without increasing the number of regular clinic visits. The patients will benefit as well through a friendly guided exercise routine that can be performed at home. The quantified results of the exercises will be given to the patients in a way that will help them understand the effects of medications and will provide data to doctors to inform decisions about medication changes. The proposed technology product aims to improve efficiency and reduce the cost for medical treatments. The proposed project aims to pursue research on developing smart textiles that are appropriate for clinically-valid medical screening of movement conditions especially those seen in Parkinson's disease. Smart textile fabrication faces several roadblocks and technical barriers including the integration of conductive material in conventional fabric and washability and durability of smart textiles. In addition, the selection of materials and construction methods significantly impacts the sensitivity, repeatability, accuracy, and precision of smart textile sensors. The proposed project aims to address these challenges through two aims: 1) AIM 1 focuses on design and validation of smart textile sensors. This activity involves a series of developments and experiments in collaboration with neurologists, medical personnel, and patients with PD who will jointly participate in the design of the proposed smart gloves. 2) AIM 2 will be centered around creating a manufacturer-friendly design of the smart gloves. The aim is to investigate how the complex structure of smart textiles (due to electrical circuits, conductive threads and layers, and base fabric) can be made at scale within existing fabrication facilities and processes. This project builds directly from fundamental research discovery supported by the NSF.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.