PFT-TT: Using Textile-Based Wearable Sensors Coated with Nanocomposites for Virtual Health and Physical Rehabilitation

这项创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力包括为数百万受伤和行动困难的美国人开发改进的治疗方法。通过该项目开发的创新可穿戴传感器有可能使物理治疗师和临床医生通过远程监控他们的进展，并访问在诊所设置之外，在患者的自然工作/家庭环境中收集的连续数据，提供更好的护理。这项技术的商业和社会效益为重振美国智能服装和纺织行业以及纳米制造和纳米材料表征提供了潜力。该项目取得的进展将有助于推进可穿戴传感器的临床应用。尽管近年来可穿戴传感器取得了重大进展，但大多数应用都集中在脉搏和活动水平（例如步数）等生命体征上，很少关注人体运动，这是一个关键的未满足需求。开发的传感器可以为未来的辅助设备和假肢奠定基础，其中传感器集成为主动治疗，反馈和运动辅助。该项目的重点是推进采用创新和可扩展的电泳沉积纳米制造工艺开发的基于纺织品的可穿戴传感器的技术基础。这种超灵敏的可穿戴设备能够检测和捕捉人体运动的运动学和动力学。物理治疗师和临床医生可以使用这些传感器在实验室/临床环境之外收集有关患者进展的重要数据，这对于提供更好的医疗保健至关重要。2019冠状病毒病大流行突出表明，有必要开发新技术，促进远程评估患者预后的虚拟卫生。跨学科的方法，利用材料科学，纳米材料，复合材料，传感和神经肌肉生物力学研究人员之间的合作，将用于评估传感响应，制定校准方案，并估计传感器的功效。传感器是非侵入性的，穿着舒适，成本低，所使用的成分材料在商业上每克不到1美元。提高稳健性和耐用性的研究和开发工作，以及校准框架的创建，将扩大可穿戴传感器的应用，并可能促进新的治疗方法。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 broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project include the development of improved treatment methodologies for millions of Americans with injuries and movement difficulties. The innovative wearable sensors developed through this program have the potential to allow physical therapists and clinicians to provide better care by monitoring their progress remotely and access to continuous data collected outside of the clinic setting, in the patient’s natural work/home environment. The commercial and societal benefits of this technology offer the potential to reinvigorate segments of the US smart apparel and textile industries as well as nanomanufacturing and nanomaterial characterization. The progress achieved through this project will help in advancing the clinical applications of wearable sensors. Although wearable sensors have made significant progress in recent years, most application focus on vital signs such as pulse and activity levels (e.g. number of steps) with very little attention to human motion, which is a critical unmet need. The sensors developed could lay the foundation for future assistive devices and prosthetics where sensors are integrated for active therapy, feedback, and motion assistance. The proposed project focuses on advancing the technical foundation of textile based wearable sensors developed using an innovative and scalable electrophoretic deposition nanomanufacturing process. The ultra-sensitive wearables have the capability to detect and capture the kinematics and kinetics of human movement. These sensors can be used by physical therapists and clinicians to collect vital data about patient progress outside of a laboratory/clinical setting, which is crucial for providing improved healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to develop new technologies that facilitate virtual health for the evaluation of patient outcomes remotely. An interdisciplinary approach, leveraging collaboration between researchers from materials science, nanomaterials, composite materials, sensing and neuromuscular biomechanics, will be used to evaluate the sensing response, develop calibration protocols, and estimate sensor efficacy. The sensors are non-invasive, comfortable to wear, and low-cost, and the constituent materials used are commercially available for less than $1/gram. Research and development work on improving the robustness and durability, and the creation of a framework for calibration will expand the applications of wearable sensors and potentially facilitate new treatments.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.