URI students engineer wearable tech

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND students Joshua Harper. left, and James Baez stand next to the smart onesie they created to treat jaundice in infants. / COURTESY URI/JOHN PETERSON
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND students Joshua Harper. left, and James Baez stand next to the smart onesie they created to treat jaundice in infants. / COURTESY URI/JOHN PETERSON

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – University of Rhode Island biomedical engineering students Joshua Harper, of Maine, and James Baez, of Providence, have created a onesie for newborns that may help treat jaundice. It’s all part of The Wearable Internet of Things class taught by Kunal Mankodiya, URI assistant professor of biomedical engineering and director of the university’s Wearable Biosensing Laboratory.

“Our students are designing incredible wearable technologies,” said Mankodiya. “I’m privileged to guide them along and help them flourish.”

Wearables – electronics that can be worn on the body as clothing or accessories – are embedded with sensors, electronics and software that collect data and communicate it to users, patients and caregivers, according to a URI press release. Benefits are that a patient can remain home with a doctor’s remote monitoring; and patients and their families can be more involved in care.

Harper and Baez’s innovation was inspired by a nursing-student friend seeking better treatment for jaundiced newborns. Jaundice, a yellowing of skin and eyes, is caused by too much bilirubin in babies’ systems, often due to an undeveloped liver. Phototherapy boxes are often used to treat it, but then babies miss out on skin-to-skin contact; another treatment, a biliblanket, only covers the baby’s torso, so treatment takes longer.

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“We think our project fills the gap where other treatments have fallen short,” said Harper.

Their J-Suit contains hundreds of light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. The clothing is designed with wireless connectivity that allows a smartphone to control the LEDs remotely and collect data to track the baby’s progress.

Other projects also showed strong commercial potential, according to URI.

Ryan Ivone, of Coventry, and Matt Cohen, of Pawtucket, created a smart water bottle that helps prevent dehydration in older people.

“Normally, we use thirst as a signal that tells us when and how much to drink,” said Ivone. “As we age, this signal becomes weaker. … Many older people also have memory-loss issues and can’t remember when they last had fluids.”

Helping people with diabetes and blood-circulation problems was the goal of Gregory D’Ambrosca, of West Warwick, and Aaron Gilmore, of Barrington.

“We created wearable socks that give foot massages to patients who are unable to move much,” said Gilmore. “A microcontroller mounted to the sock is paired with an accelerometer. … When the accelerometer detects no motion, vibration actuators activate in a downward motion. This mimics a massage by pushing blood downward toward the toes to stimulate blood flow.”

Mary Ellen Sweeney of Plainfield, Conn., Tian Chen and Scott Barlow created a bionic hand that helps stroke patients regain movement in their fingers. The project, also known as the Exoskeleton Hand, has two hands – one for the patient, the other for the caregiver, who can lead exercises from another location.

Nathan Ankomah-Mensah, of Pawtucket, Sawyer Nichols, of Portsmouth, and Zachary Silveira came up with a way to measure exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays in real time through a mobile device. Using UV sensors and a microcontroller board to detect the UV index, glasses allow users to see how much exposure they’re getting. Nichols also envisions an upgrade that would alert users on their cellphones if their sun exposure is reaching dangerous levels.

Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributor.

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