
NSF Org: |
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | July 26, 2021 |
Latest Amendment Date: | March 29, 2024 |
Award Number: | 2139724 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Wendy Nilsen
wnilsen@nsf.gov (703)292-2568 IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
Start Date: | October 1, 2021 |
End Date: | September 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $299,998.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $331,998.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2022 = $16,000.00 FY 2024 = $16,000.00 |
History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
75 LOWER COLLEGE RD RM 103 KINGSTON RI US 02881-1974 (401)874-2635 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
70 Lower College Rd Kingston RI US 02881-1967 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | Smart and Connected Health |
Primary Program Source: |
01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
The rate of premature babies is rising in the US affecting 78 per 1000 live births admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) yearly. Due to low birth weight and underdeveloped body systems, premature babies are at a high risk of experiencing both short-term and long-term health issues. However, to date, NICUs still use gel-based sticky electrodes glued to the fragile, underdeveloped skin of premature babies. Studies have reported that these electrodes could cause skin harm such as rashes, irritation, breakdown, and stripping. Moreover, these electrodes are connected using long wires that make the critical care for nurses inconvenient, tedious, and time consuming. Drying sticky electrodes often lead to a loose connection with the skin and ultimately compromise the quality of medical monitoring. Because of long wires, parents find it difficult to provide skin-to-skin/kangaroo care to their babies while in NICU. The central objective of this EAGER proposal is to design and test a novel smart e-textile system, a chest belt that can enhance medical monitoring practices in NICU. The proposal synergizes the team?s expertise in areas of smart textile, physiological monitoring, biosignal processing, and human-centered technology design to address critical need for smart, safe, and connected monitoring systems in NICUs. In addition to the scientific impacts of this EAGER, the proposed work will advance national health by addressing multiple existing gaps in NICUs. The educational and outreach plans will provide training opportunities for women and under-represented minorities and will also develop a K-12 curriculum.
The overarching goal of the project is to design and test a new NICU-centered wireless medical monitoring technology that is designed from biocompatible smart textile materials requiring no adhesive gel. Aim 1 will focus on NICU centered design and development of smart textile-based medical monitoring systems. Aim 2 will focus on characterization and evaluation of the proposed smart e-textile. The project will start with an ethnographic study of the NICU, focus groups involving NICU nurses, and interviews of parents of babies in the NICU to understand the challenges associated with providing care to premature babies. This will lead to the development of a novel functional prototype of a wireless smart textile technology that can offer reliable monitoring of medical signals with improved comfort. The project includes a feasibility study to measure the performance and usability of the proposed smart textile on healthy adults and healthy infants. The study will enable us to develop signal analysis methods for signal quality index and noise characterization that are critical to address the issue of false alarms in NICU caused by poor skin-electrode contacts.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This NSF-funded EAGER SCH project focused on developing a multimodal smart textile medical monitoring system to enhance care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). The research aimed to address critical challenges faced by nurses and parents in NICUs, including cumbersome medical monitoring systems and barriers to parent-infant bonding during Kangaroo care. By leveraging cutting-edge e-textile technology, the project sought to create skin-friendly, wireless wearable devices capable of monitoring vital signs like heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RR) while reducing interference from traditional adhesive-based systems.
The project began with an ethnographic study to understand the complexities of NICU workflows and the limitations of existing monitoring technologies. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with NICU nurses and parents to capture their experiences and expectations. The findings revealed that current systems often hinder nurses’ efficiency and impede parent-infant bonding. Nurses expressed a need for improved control over alarms, integrated interfaces for monitoring devices, and innovations that minimize physical and psychological barriers in caregiving. These insights formed the foundation for designing a smart e-textile chest belt aimed at addressing these pain points while maintaining the quality of the medical monitoring.
A major milestone of the project was the development of a soft, wireless e-textile belt. This innovative device incorporated embroidered sensors using biocompatible materials to monitor HR, RR, and skin-electrode impedance in real time. By eliminating the need for adhesive electrodes, the belt addressed common issues such as infant skin irritation and discomfort. The embroidered sensors were integrated into the belt using technical embroidery techniques, which ensured durability and functionality. In addition, the belt featured a wearable computing device for on-body intelligence, capable of processing and transmitting medical signals wirelessly. This reduced noise, minimized false alarms, and provided high signal accuracy. The system also included on-body LED indicators to allow nurses to monitor vital signs at a glance.
Extensive testing and validation of the smart belt were conducted to ensure its reliability in real-world conditions. A study involving 10 healthy adult participants was performed to evaluate the performance of the textile-based electrodes under various motion-induced conditions. Participants were asked to engage in 16 distinct activities, including reclining, sitting, walking, and running, simulating a wide range of real-life movements. The study assessed key metrics such as heart rate (HR) detection accuracy, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and resistance to motion artifacts. Results showed that the textile electrodes achieved an HR detection accuracy of approximately 99% across all tasks. The SNR for the textile electrodes averaged 15.8 dB, closely matching the 17.3 dB achieved by traditional adhesive electrodes in low-to-moderate motion scenarios. These findings demonstrated that the textile-based system could reliably monitor vital signs during everyday activities, offering a practical and comfortable alternative to adhesive electrodes, which often cause skin irritation and discomfort during extended use.
The project’s outcomes extended beyond technical advancements to broader societal impacts. The smart e-textile system improved NICU workflows by reducing nurses’ burden and facilitating parent-infant interactions during bonding activities. The wireless, adhesive-free design provided a more comfortable and less intrusive experience for infants and families, addressing a significant gap in neonatal care. The research also contributed to the field of wearable technology by demonstrating the feasibility of textile-based electrodes for continuous health monitoring. The findings highlighted the potential of these systems to replace traditional sticky electrodes, which are prone to skin irritation and discomfort, especially in long-term use.
Another significant achievement of the project was its impact on education and workforce development. The research team engaged graduate and undergraduate students, offering them hands-on experience in cutting-edge e-textile technology. Students participated in various aspects of the project, including biosignal processing, sensor design, and system integration. Their contributions led to numerous publications in high-impact journals and presentations at international conferences. The project also facilitated outreach activities, including STEM programs for K-12 students and a summer hackathon, inspiring the next generation of researchers and innovators.
The project’s findings have been widely disseminated through academic publications, conference presentations, and community engagement. Key research papers detailed the development and evaluation of the e-textile chest belt, biosignal acquisition methods, and innovations in neonatal monitoring.
Looking ahead, this project’s success paves the way for broader adoption of smart textiles in healthcare, with future efforts focusing on refining the e-textile system for diverse NICU settings and other clinical applications. By addressing NICU challenges and advancing wearable technology, the project has laid a foundation for improving patient outcomes, enhancing parent-infant bonding, and transforming neonatal care, offering a pathway for future smart, patient-centered healthcare solutions.
Last Modified: 01/24/2025
Modified by: Kunal Mankodiya
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