DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Wearable electronics and computing technology are becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. The prospect of replacing cumbersome medical equipment requiring significant supporting infrastructure in hospitals and medical facilities, with unobtrusive body worn devices that can robustly and securely send and receive data for biomedical sensing and actuation for remote treatment, has the potential to be a disruptive innovation. Whereas the majority of electronic textiles in existence today make use of circuits adhesively integrated onto a host garment, knitting technology at Drexel University enables the realization of garments that have knit sensors and actuators seamlessly integrated within them. We propose to integrate smart fabric sensors and actuators into comfortable garment devices providing unobtrusive prevention options for deep venous thrombosis (DVT), that are not currently possible, particularly in high risk patients. Pregnancy and prolonged sedentary positions are risk factors for DVT. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DVT/PE impacts between 300,000 to 900,000 people per year in the United States. Consistent with the mission of NIBIB, this project will result in research and development of new biomedical smart textiles that will fundamentally improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of DVT/PE, while encouraging research and development in multidisciplinary areas (e.g., medicine, engineering, fashion design, sociology, nursing, and informatics). Specific aims of the project include: Sensing - Develop an unobtrusive leg mobility measurement system that is seamlessly knitted and requires no batteries or cumbersome electronics. Signal Processing - Develop a real-time, predictive data-driven control system that will allow for robustness to non-deterministic disturbances such as motion artifacts and change in sensor location. Actuation - Develop biomedical smart textiles to provide mechanical stimulation of tissues in the body for remotely actuated treatment.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: DVT/PE impacts between 300,000 to 900,000 people per year in the U.S. Consistent with the mission of NIBIB, this project will result in research and development of new biomedical smart textiles that will fundamentally improve the detection, treatment, and prevention of DVT/PE, while encouraging research and development in multidisciplinary areas (e.g., medicine, engineering, fashion design, sociology, nursing).