EAGER: Origami-Based, Shape-Adaptive, Skin-Like Wireless Sensors for Monitoring COVID-19 Patients in Field Hospitals

新冠肺炎疫情给公共卫生带来了巨大风险，其中医疗空间和设施的短缺严重制约了疾病控制，导致病死率上升。为了缓解这一问题，世界各地都采用了部署临时体育场和医疗帐篷等野战医院的做法。然而，简陋的野战医院的性质和大流行病期间医疗资源的匮乏，使它们在很大程度上设备和人员不足。因此，密切监测临时野战医院的病人是一项挑战，对那些可能出现症状迅速进展和健康恶化的人构成威胁。该项目将通过推进设计和制造的基础知识来解决这一挑战，以实现可以在野战医院环境中快速轻松地实施的皮肤状、无线、无电池传感器。该传感器将适应各种体型，能够在不干扰日常生活的情况下密切监测COVID-19患者的体温、咳嗽、呼吸。也可以在医疗器械不足的正规医院使用，也可以在自我隔离的患者家中使用。总体而言，该项目将探索一种工程途径，以应对COVID-19大流行中紧迫的社会挑战。这个项目将包括一个“我们是”。“我们关心”教育推广计划，培养学生对工程创新的热情，以应对社会挑战。本研究将涉及本科生。高中学生也将参与实践研讨会，在那里他们将体验到工程研究如何以及为什么会影响社会和拯救生命。该项目的目标是推进柔性电子产品的设计和制造知识，以实现能够在常规医疗器械不足或无法获得的临时野战医院中持续监测COVID-19患者重要健康信号的皮肤状设备。该设备将采用近场通信技术，实现无线、无电池的呼吸、咳嗽和体温传感。为了实现这一目标，PI将使用协作的高灵敏度应变传感器网络来实现运动盲呼吸和咳嗽检测。PI将利用可展开的折纸设计来实现超高的形状适应性，以适应各种尺寸的车身，而无需定制。这种基于折纸的方法将极大地推动柔性电子产品从当前的局部皮肤集成范式发展为一种变革性的、“一刀切”的形状适应性。复杂的有限元分析和机械测试将确保设备的完整性。将演示在常规野战医院模型和快速部署折纸医院的新概念中设想设备的操作，以展示设备的功效。该项目以柔性电子产品的创新为中心，并从其他学科如航空航天工程中汲取灵感，以推进柔性电子产品领域的发展。总体而言，该项目将解决最先进的无线、无电池表皮电子设备与设备不足、人员不足的医疗场所和设施对先进健康监测传感器的需求之间的差距。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the public health in great risks, among which the shortage of medical spaces and facilities has significantly curtailed disease control and resulted in higher fatality rate. Deploying field hospitals such as makeshift stadiums and medical tents has been adopted worldwide to mitigate this issue. However, the nature of simple field hospitals and the scarce medical resources in a pandemic make them largely underequipped and understaffed. Therefore, it is challenging to closely monitor the patients in temporary field hospitals, posing threats to those who may experience rapid symptom progression and health deterioration. This project will address this challenge by advancing the fundamental knowledge of design and fabrication to realize skin-like, wireless, battery-free sensors that can be quickly and easily implemented in the environments of field hospitals. The envisioned sensors will be adaptable to a wide range of body shapes and capable of closely monitoring temperature, coughing, and breathing of COVID-19 patients without interference with their daily living. They can also be used in regular hospitals where the medical instruments are insufficient or at home for patients under self-isolation. Overall, this project will explore an engineering pathway to respond to the pressing societal challenges in COVID-19 pandemic. This project will include a “We Are. We Care” educational outreach plan to cultivate students’ passion for engineering innovation to address societal challenges. Undergraduate students will be involved in this research. High school students will be engaged as well through hands-on workshops where they will experience how and why engineering research can impact society and save lives.The objective of this project is to advance the knowledge of design and fabrication of flexible electronics to realize skin-like devices capable of continuously monitoring the vital health signals of COVID-19 patients in temporary field hospitals, where conventional healthcare instruments are insufficient or unavailable. The devices will employ near-field communication technology to achieve wireless, battery-free sensing of breathing, coughing, and body temperature. To achieve the objective, the PI will use a network of collaborative, high-sensitive strain sensors to realize motion-blind breathing and coughing detection. The PI will leverage deployable origami designs to achieve ultra-high shape adaptability to fit with a wide range of body sizes without customization. This origami-based approach will greatly advance flexible electronics from the current paradigm of local skin integration to a transformative, “one-size-fits-all” shape adaptability. Sophisticated finite element analyses and mechanical testing will ensure the integrity of devices. Operation of the envisioned devices in models of conventional field hospitals and a new concept of fast-deployable origami hospital will be demonstrated to show the efficacy of the devices. This project centers on innovations of flexible electronics and draws inspirations from other disciplines such as aerospace engineering to advance the field of flexible electronics. Overall, this project will address the gaps between the state-of-the-art wireless, battery-free epidermal electronics and the needs for advanced health monitoring sensors in underequipped, understaffed medical spaces and facilities.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.