Vibrating insoles for remote neurological monitoring and balance enhancement (Phase I)

用于远程神经监测和平衡增强的振动鞋垫（第一阶段）

• 批准号: 548811-2020
• 负责人: Peters, Ryan
• 金额: $ 7.39万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Idea to Innovation
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=701039
• 关键词: Vibrating; insoles; remote; neurological; monitoring

Reduced foot sole skin sensitivity is associated with an increased risk of falling in older adults and diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients. Given this, the ability to perform remote skin sensitivity tests through vibrating 'smart insole' technologies would represent a major advance in patient monitoring and potential healthcare cost savings. Vibrating insoles will provide a more efficient and precise alternative to manual testing methods used in the clinic today. Users could perform remote testing on a weekly or even daily basis, providing an unprecedented frequency of neurological data for clinicians, while empowering patients to become agents of their own healthcare. Beyond neurological monitoring, vibrating insoles can be combined with other existing wearable sensors that measure balance performance (e.g., pressure-sensing insoles or head-mounted accelerometers) within a closed-loop control system to provide real-time sensory feedback enhancement for the user. For example, if the plantar pressure distribution shifts onto the heels, vibrators under the heels become activated, leading to increased perceptual awareness of plantar pressure and a reflexive postural response that brings the body forward. Due to a design flaw, however, the only existing vibrating insoles are not effective at stimulating the foot sole with perceptible vibrations when users stand on them with full body weight. To circumvent this, I propose to develop vibrating insole compartments which can bear the weight of the body and provide a pocket for the motors to continue moving and emitting vibrations. Furthermore, my design couples each vibrating motor with a nearby accelerometer for real-time feedback and calibration of stimulation amplitudes and frequencies. This Idea-to-Innovation grant will support the further development and translation of these vibrating insole technologies to fully realize their commercial potential.

足底皮肤敏感性降低与老年人和糖尿病周围神经病变患者跌倒风险增加相关。鉴于此，通过振动“智能鞋垫”技术进行远程皮肤敏感性测试的能力将代表患者监测和潜在医疗保健成本节约的重大进步。振动鞋垫将提供一个更有效和更精确的替代人工测试方法在今天的诊所使用。用户可以每周甚至每天进行远程测试，为临床医生提供前所未有的神经学数据频率，同时使患者能够成为自己医疗保健的代理人。除了神经监测之外，振动鞋垫还可以与其他现有的可穿戴传感器相结合，这些传感器可以测量平衡性能（例如，压力感测鞋垫或头戴式加速度计），以向用户提供实时感觉反馈增强。例如，如果足底压力分布转移到脚跟上，则脚跟下的振动器被激活，导致足底压力的感知意识增加和反射姿势反应，使身体向前。然而，由于设计缺陷，仅有的现有振动鞋垫在使用者以全身重量站在其上时不能有效地以可感知的振动刺激脚底。为了避免这种情况，我建议开发振动鞋垫隔间，可以承受身体的重量，并为电机提供一个口袋，以继续移动和发出振动。此外，我的设计将每个振动电机与附近的加速度计耦合，用于实时反馈和校准刺激幅度和频率。这一创意创新赠款将支持这些振动鞋垫技术的进一步开发和翻译，以充分发挥其商业潜力。