Reliable, Flexible Patch for Monitoring Head Injuries in High-contact Sports.

随着2002年慢性创伤性脑病（CTE）的发现，高接触性运动中脑损伤的研究引起了人们的广泛关注。CTE是一种进行性退行性脑疾病。这是反复脑震荡和创伤性脑损伤的结果，如运动员在高接触运动中所经历的。患有CTE的大脑会逐渐恶化并失去质量。这种疾病不仅使日常生活所需的技能（如记忆、自我控制、时间管理、注意力）恶化；但它也会导致更严重的精神问题（如强烈的自杀念头、抑郁、认知和思维问题、焦虑、暴力/虐待行为、痴呆），这些问题会随着时间的推移而恶化。CTE的主要问题是它只能在死后诊断出来。因此，早期发现是不可能的，预防依赖于监测个人影响。虽然在开发具有测量运动员头部损伤能力的头盔方面已经做出了重大努力，但目前的技术存在局限性和不准确性，这是所使用的方法和转导机制固有的。例如，目前的方法是使用一组物理连接到头盔上的加速度计，并在任何加速度计测量到超过一定阈值的加速度时触发数据收集。这种方法的主要限制是它依赖于附着在头盔上的基于加速器的传感器，而不是运动员的头部。因此，头盔和头部之间可能发生的滑动使得预测大脑在颅骨内的运动变得困难。基于mems的加速度计内部微机械结构谐振在头部运动频率范围内；这在测量角加速度峰值时造成了很大的误差。这项工作旨在开发一种可靠、坚固、灵活的贴片，通过开发一种可靠的贴片监测器，直接接触运动员的头部，而不依赖于悬浮的微米结构来测量加速度，从而克服当前技术中存在的滑动问题和频率问题。作为这个项目的一部分，一个为期两周的高中生暑期活动将被开发出来。来自密歇根州立大学暑期研究机会项目和教师研究经验网站的本科生和高中教师将参加。该计划还将有助于激励来自波多黎各大学的有才华的未被充分代表的学生继续研究生学习。三个主要研究任务已被设计为从设备级开始，继续进行系统集成，并以验证过程结束。在第一项任务中，我们将对PPFE薄膜与碳纳米管基薄膜作为柔性贴片电极的集成进行基础研究；机械冲击将产生电信号，从中提取机械冲击的力和加速度。使用碳纳米管薄膜（而不是金属电极）的目的是消除由于金属电极开裂造成的问题，并实现可靠的贴片。第二项任务是将贴片集成到可靠的自供电无线发射器中，从中提取机械冲击的信息。第三个任务寻找开发补丁的验证，其中设备将被表征并与基准进行比较以确认其性能。这个想法是，最后的补丁可以产生和传输信号，提供一个全面的代表的影响；由此可以评估对人体（尤其是头部）影响的严重程度。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。

With the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2002, the topic of brain injuries in high-contact sports gained plenty of deserved attention. CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease. It is a consequence of a repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries, such as those experienced by athletes in high-contact sports. A brain with CTE gradually deteriorates and loses mass. The disease not only deteriorates skills necessary for daily life (e.g. memory, self-control, time-management, focus); but it also causes much bigger mental problems (e.g. strong suicidal thoughts, depression, cognitive and thinking problems, anxiety, violent/abusive behavior, dementia) which become worse over time. The main issue with CTE is that it can only be diagnosed after death. Therefore, early detection is impossible, and prevention relies on monitoring individual impacts. While there have been significant efforts in the development of helmets with capabilities of measuring head injuries in athletes, current technologies come with limitations and inaccuracies that are inherent to the approaches and transduction mechanisms used. For example, current approaches consists on using an array of accelerometers that are physically connected to the helmet, and trigger data collection whenever any of the accelerometers measures an acceleration beyond certain threshold. The main limitation of this approach is that it relies on accelerator-based sensors attached to the helmet's not the athlete's head. Thus, the sliding that can occur between the helmet and the head makes it difficult to predict how the brain moves inside the skull. The resonance of the micro-mechanical structures inside the MEMS-based accelerometers are within the range of head motion frequencies; which has been found to cause large errors when measuring the peak angular accelerations. The proposed work is aimed at developing a reliable, robust, flexible patch that overcomes the sliding problems and frequency issues present in the current technologies by developing a reliable patch monitor that is in direct contact with the athlete's head and does not rely on suspended micrometer structures to measure acceleration. A 2-week summer activity for high-school students will be developed as part of this project. Undergraduate students and high-school teachers from the summer research opportunities program and research experience for teachers site at MSU will participate. This program will also help to motivate talented underrepresented student from The University of Puerto Rico to continue graduate studies.Three Major Research Tasks have been designed to start at the device level, continue with system integration, and finalize with a validation process. In the first task, we will perform fundamental studies on the integration of PPFE films with carbon nanotube-based thin films as electrodes of a flexible patch; where a mechanical impact will produce an electrical signal from which the force and acceleration of the mechanical impact will be extracted. The use of CNT films (instead of metal electrodes) is aimed at eliminating issues due to metal electrode cracking and enabling a reliable patch. The second task we will look for integration of the patch into a reliable, self-powered wireless transmitter, from which the information of the mechanical impact can be extracted. The third task looks for the validation of the developed patch, where the device will characterized and compared to a benchmark to confirm its performance. The idea is that the final patch can produce and transmit signals that provide a comprehensive representation of the impact; and from which the severity of an impact on the human body (particularly the head) can be assessed.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.