Multihaptic wearable sensor enabled by biomimetic polymer to stoke engagement in swallowing rehabilitation therapy

由仿生聚合物支持的多触觉可穿戴传感器可促进吞咽康复治疗的参与

• 批准号: 2223566
• 负责人: Darren Lipomi
• 金额: $ 39万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2223566&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Multihaptic; wearable; sensor; enabled; biomimetic

There are many disabilities in which the patient could benefit from the use of a wearable device for rehabilitation or prevention. However, the adoption of wearable sensors by patients is not strong; in this project, it is proposed that adoption could be increased by designing devices that provided reinforcing tactile cues to the wearer. This project will use haptic effects for the first time in an “epidermal” wearable device (that is, a device akin to a temporary tattoo). The haptic effects will drive engagement in simulated physical therapy. As a use case, treatment of dysphagia (or difficulty swallowing) will be the focus of this study. This condition, which afflicts approximately 3% of the US population and ≥15% of the elderly, can be associated with pain, and in many cases is devastating to the quality of life of persons with dysphagia. Moreover, uncoordinated swallowing movements can lead to the entry of food into the lungs and aspiration pneumonia, which is life-threatening. The engineering of a device worn on the neck capable of detecting swallows and other movements could augment the course of physical therapy. Ultimately, it is hoped that the knowledge created at the interface of device engineering and behavioral science will enable patients to take charge of their own rehabilitation. This project leverages the newly opened University of California San Diego (UCSD) Downtown Center, which will be the site of multiple hands-on demonstrations arising from the fundamental work on haptics; these demos will be held in conjunction with recruiting a diverse group of participants from the community for the study.The goal of this project is to increase the adoption and engagement of mobile health interventions. Specifically, by endowing epidermal wearable sensors with haptic capabilities. That is, the ability to interact with the wearer by touch. The project leverages decades of work on myriad devices that can measure a large array of physiological quantities with high accuracy. Nevertheless, the future adoption of these “epidermal” sensors by patients and consumers cannot be taken for granted. Using prevention and rehabilitation of dysphagia (loss of swallowing function) as a disease model, this project proposes a type of epidermal patch for therapy that delivers affirming tactile stimuli whenever a therapeutic movement is performed correctly. The key enabling element is a stretchable, biomimetic conductive polymer that exhibits exceptional conductivity and volumetric capacitance. This material is used in the device as three components of the device: (1) strain gauges and (2) electrodes for electromyography and for (3) haptic stimulation, at lower voltages than is possible with off-the-shelf electrodes. In a closed-loop design, the device measures a signal and immediately produces a haptic effect to encourage desired behavior in human subject experiments. The knowledge created by this work could unleash the potential of the creativity and innovation surrounding epidermal electronic devices built up over the last 15 years and could have a transformative impact on technologies for at-home therapy. Moreover, the feasibility testing with 55 participants will be performed at UCSD’s Downtown Community Center, located in a highly diverse area in San Diego. The design and engineering of devices will be conducted with the participation of dysphagic patients and those at risk of dysphagia. Testing will be held in conjunction with a hands-on exhibit of haptic materials and devices produced during this project. The impact of this work will be broadened by stratification of the subject pool by age, dysphagia status, socioeconomic status, and technological literacy.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.

在许多残疾中，患者可以从使用可穿戴设备进行康复或预防中受益。然而，患者对可穿戴传感器的采用率并不高；在这个项目中，有人建议通过设计向佩戴者提供强化触觉提示的设备来增加采用率。该项目将首次将触觉效果应用于可穿戴设备(即类似于临时纹身的设备)中。触觉效应将推动人们参与模拟物理治疗。作为一个用例，吞咽困难(或吞咽困难)的治疗将是本研究的重点。这种情况困扰着大约3%的美国人口和15%的≥老年人，可能与疼痛有关，在许多情况下对吞咽困难患者的生活质量是毁灭性的。此外，不协调的吞咽运动可能导致食物进入肺部和吸入性肺炎，这是危及生命的。设计一种戴在脖子上的设备，能够检测燕子和其他动作，可能会增加物理治疗的疗程。最终，人们希望在设备工程和行为科学的接口上创造的知识将使患者能够负责自己的康复。该项目利用了新开放的加州大学圣地亚哥分校(UCSD)市中心中心，该中心将是触觉基础工作产生的多个动手演示的地点；这些演示将与从社区招募不同群体的参与者一起进行。该项目的目标是增加移动健康干预的采用率和参与度。具体地说，通过赋予表皮可穿戴传感器触觉功能。也就是说，通过触摸与佩戴者互动的能力。该项目利用了数十年来在各种设备上的工作，这些设备可以高精度地测量大量生理量。然而，患者和消费者未来采用这些“表皮”传感器并不是理所当然的。利用吞咽困难(吞咽功能丧失)的预防和康复作为疾病模型，该项目提出了一种用于治疗的表皮贴片，只要正确地进行治疗动作，就能提供肯定的触觉刺激。关键的实现元素是一种可拉伸的仿生导电聚合物，它具有出色的导电性和体积电容。这种材料在该装置中用作该装置的三个组件：(1)应变计和(2)用于肌电和(3)触觉刺激的电极，其电压低于现成电极。在闭环设计中，该设备测量信号，并立即产生触觉效果，以鼓励人类受试者实验中所需的行为。这项工作创造的知识可以释放围绕过去15年建立的表皮电子设备的创造力和创新的潜力，并可能对家庭治疗技术产生革命性影响。此外，有55名参与者参加的可行性测试将在加州大学圣地亚哥分校市中心社区中心进行，该中心位于圣地亚哥一个高度多样化的地区。设备的设计和工程将在吞咽困难患者和有吞咽困难风险的患者的参与下进行。测试将与在该项目期间生产的触觉材料和设备的动手展览一起进行。这项工作的影响将通过按年龄、吞咽困难状况、社会经济地位和技术素养对受试者进行分层来扩大。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。

项目成果

Bidirectional Venturi Flowmeter Based on Capacitive Sensors for Spirometry

• DOI: 10.1002/admt.202300627
• 发表时间: 2023-07-26
• 期刊: ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
• 影响因子: 6.8
• 作者: Becerra，Laura L.;Rafeedi，Tarek;Ng，Tse Nga
• 通讯作者: Ng，Tse Nga

External Measurement of Swallowed Volume During Exercise Enabled by Stretchable Derivatives of PEDOT:PSS, Graphene, Metallic Nanoparticles, and Machine Learning

• DOI: 10.1002/adsr.202200060
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: Advanced Sensor Research
• 作者: Beril Polat;Tarek Rafeedi;Laura Becerra;Alexander X. Chen;Kuanjung Chiang;V. Kaipu;Rachel Blau;P. Mercier;Chung-Kuan Cheng;D. Lipomi