I-Corps: Smart Mask for Respiratory Monitoring and Prevention of Airborne Diseases

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一个名为Smart Mask的数据收集系统，为老年护理社区提供一个安全的操作环境，并确定可能帮助护理人员了解呼吸道疾病传播风险的行动。我们的总体目标是通过跟踪这些设施中的关键工作人员所遵循的健康和安全做法，打击COVID-19类疾病的季节性复发。在社会层面，这项技术将有助于监测一个活跃的热点地区，在那里症状病例突然激增。 该技术还将帮助决策者制定纠正措施。拟议的口罩有几个无线连接选项，可以选择与第三方应用程序共享数据，以报告健康异常，并让公共卫生官员实时了解可能的爆发。此外，智能口罩有助于提高人们对有害卫生习惯的认识，帮助防止污染，并建立一个更健康的社会。Smart Mask为基本护理设施提供了一种确保自身健康的方法，通过降低设施传播的风险来维持业务增长，并激发潜在客户和现有员工之间的信任。这个I-corps项目提供了一个使用Smart Mask网络的数据收集和分析系统。每个智能面罩都与智能手机和以下传感器无线连接：健康指标传感器，用于非侵入性地测量呼吸频率，氧饱和度和体温。 智能面罩向用户提供异常读数通知。 它们还具有手势传感器，可以使用面罩上的薄膜和柔性电容耦合板来跟踪触摸或移动靠近面部的手的手势。 最后，智能面罩具有使用电容耦合的接近感测，其使用信号强度测量和电容场的耦合来执行面罩到面罩和面罩到基础设施的距离测距。 I-Corps的客户发现活动将探索拟议的智能面罩技术的商业潜力。该奖项反映了NSF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 I-Corps project is the development of a data collection system called Smart Mask, which provides senior care communities with a safe operational environment and identifies actions that may help caregivers understand the risk of respiratory disease transmission. The overall goal is to combat the seasonal resurgence of COVID-19-like diseases by tracking the health and safe practices followed by essential workers in such facilities. At a societal level, this technology will help to monitor an active hotspot region where symptomatic cases spike suddenly. The technology will also assist decision-makers in setting up corrective actions. The proposed mask has several wireless connectivity options with the option to share data with third party apps for reporting health abnormalities and give public health officials a real-time awareness of possible breakouts. Additionally, Smart Mask assists in raising awareness of harmful hygiene habits, to help in preventing contamination and leading to a healthier society. The Smart Mask offers essential care facilities a way to ensure their own health, sustain business growth by reducing the risk of facility spread, and inspire trust among potential customers and current employees.This I-corps project provides a data collection and analysis system using a network of Smart Masks. Each Smart Mask has wireless connectivity with a smartphone and the following sensors: health metric sensors to non-invasively measure respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and body temperature. The Smart Masks provide notifications of abnormal readings to the user. They also have gesture sensors that track the gestures of touching or moving hands close to the face, using thin film and flexible capacitance coupling plates on the mask. Finally, the Smart Masks have proximity sensing using capacitive coupling that performs mask-to-mask and mask-to-infrastructure distance ranging using signal strength measurements and coupling of capacitive fields. The I-Corps customer discovery activities will explore the commercial potential of the proposed Smart Mask technology.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.