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

EAGER：基于折纸、形状自适应、类肤无线传感器，用于监测野战医院中的 COVID-19 患者

• 批准号: 2343021
• 负责人: Xin Ning
• 金额: $ 26.5万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2343021&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Origami; Based; Shape; Adaptive

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.

新冠肺炎疫情给公共卫生带来了巨大的风险，其中医疗空间和设施的短缺极大地阻碍了疾病控制，导致了更高的死亡率。部署战地医院，如临时体育场和医疗帐篷，已在世界各地得到采用，以缓解这一问题。然而，简单野战医院的性质和大流行期间稀缺的医疗资源使它们在很大程度上装备不足，人手不足。因此，在临时野战医院密切监测患者是具有挑战性的，这对那些可能经历快速症状进展和健康恶化的人构成威胁。该项目将通过提高设计和制造的基本知识来应对这一挑战，以实现可在野战医院环境中快速轻松实施的皮肤状、无线、无电池传感器。这些设想中的传感器将能够适应各种体型，并能够密切监测新冠肺炎患者的体温、咳嗽和呼吸，而不会干扰他们的日常生活。它们也可以在医疗器械不足的常规医院使用，也可以在自我隔离患者的家中使用。总体而言，该项目将探索一条工程途径，以应对新冠肺炎疫情带来的紧迫社会挑战。这个项目将包括一个“我们是。我们关心“教育外展计划，以培养学生对工程创新的热情，以应对社会挑战。本科生将参与这项研究。高中生还将通过动手研讨会参与，在那里他们将体验工程研究如何以及为什么能够影响社会和拯救生命。该项目的目标是提高柔性电子产品的设计和制造知识，以实现能够在临时野战医院连续监测新冠肺炎患者重要健康信号的皮肤设备，在传统医疗仪器不足或不可用的地方。这些设备将采用近场通信技术，实现对呼吸、咳嗽和体温的无线、无电池感知。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，无需定制即可适应各种机身尺寸。这种基于折纸的方法将极大地推动灵活的电子产品从目前的局部皮肤整合范例转变为变革性的、“一刀切”的形状适应性。精密的有限元分析和机械测试将确保设备的完整性。设想的设备将在传统野战医院的模型中运行，并将展示快速部署的折纸医院的新概念，以显示设备的有效性。该项目以柔性电子的创新为中心，并从航空航天工程等其他学科中获得启发，以推动柔性电子领域的发展。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、人员不足的医疗空间和设施中对先进健康监测传感器的需求之间的差距。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。