Development of a prototype lower limb active compression device

这项建议旨在支持滑铁卢大学和洛克希德·马丁加拿大公司(LMC)的申请者之间的合作研究倡议。这项工作的主要目标是开发一种具有军事和医疗应用的外部主动按压装置的原型。对于军队来说，该设备旨在减少疲劳，改善现役士兵的恢复时间，而医疗应用包括治疗和预防静脉功能不全疾病。后者是对长期不动的军事人员的担忧，比如无人机飞行员。拟议的按压系统基于申请者开发的一种新的“智能”按压方案，该方案在应用时对腿部血液循环显示出相当大的生理益处；四肢血液流动的增加显著降低了静脉疾病的风险，同时还能排出废物，以减少疲劳并缩短运动恢复时间。对于军事和医疗应用，剩下的主要研究挑战是为非卧床用户开发工作原型。目前的实验室系统由气动压缩袖口和一系列实验室级有线生理仪器组成，将用户拴在墙上。向无线移动原型的过渡需要：探索和表征无线生物特征传感器(数据率、信噪比等)，设计用于实时监控压缩水平的现场压力测量系统，使用新的生物特征传感平台开发稳健的闭环压缩控制策略，以及开发和验证用于应用外部压缩的新型驱动策略。在拟议的工作过程中，将在加拿大成立一家由LMC支持的初创公司，将开发的产品商业化。该公司将作为LMC的军事市场的技术供应商，同时也将一种产品推向医疗市场。

This proposal is aimed to support a collaborative research initiative between the applicants at the University of Waterloo and Lockheed Martin Canada (LMC). The main goal of this work is to develop a prototype external active compression device with military and medical applications. For the military, the device aims to reduce fatigue and improve recovery time of active soldiers, while medical applications include treatment and prevention of venous insufficiency disorders. The latter is a concern for military personnel subjected to long bouts of immobility, such as drone pilots. The proposed compression system is based upon a novel "smart" compression protocol developed by the applicants that shows considerable physiological benefits to the blood circulation in the legs upon application; increased blood flow in the extremities dramatically reduces the risk of venous disorders while also flushing out waste products to reduce fatigue and improve recovery time from exercise. For both the military and medical applications, the primary remaining research challenge is the development of a working prototype for ambulatory users. The current laboratory system consists of pneumatic compression cuffs and a series of laboratory-grade wired physiological instruments, which tethers the user to the wall. Transitioning to a wireless, ambulatory prototype requires: exploration and characterization of wireless biometric sensors (data rate, signal-to-noise, etc.), design of an in situ pressure measurement system for monitoring compression levels in real time, development of a robust closed-loop compression control strategy using the new biometric sensing platform, and development and validation of novel actuation strategies for applying the external compression. During the course of the proposed work, a LMC backed start-up company will be founded in Canada to commercialize the developed product. This company will serve as a technology supplier to LMC for the military market, while also advancing a product to the medical market.