BodyCare - Improving Disabled People Life Quality with WBSN
Scope: Nowadays, millions of people around the world suffer from motor disabilities that limit their ability to execute simple quotidian tasks. There are solutions that can improve this experience but are expensive, staying out of reach for many disabled people, and do not cover all the necessities. Disabled people require constant care and assistance, which has a high economical cost due to dependence on others. However, economics are not the only issue, there is also concern with social exclusion. Without accessible support services disabled people become overly dependent on their caregivers and are prevented from participating in society. Furthermore, with this dependence that is created, caregivers face a problem of burden. Considering the actual development in the area of embedded systems and the rising decrease in the size of electronic equipments, it is possible to create small modules that allow someone with a motor disability to realize simple tasks in a practical and low-cost way, while also reducing the overload placed on the caregiver.
Research Goals: The underlying architecture for this project relies on designing a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) as a form of a Wireless Body Sensor Network, with wearable computing devices. The goal of these wearable sensors is to solve major problems identified within the target population, people with severe motor disabilities, one of which is related with proper monitoring of Urine Drainage Bags (UDBs) used by disabled people with urinary long-term catheterization. To prevent health risks and complications, constant care is required which means caregivers are burdened with constantly checking the status of patients’ UDBs, because when they are reaching full capacity have to be emptied. These checks have to be done at precise time intervals, because otherwise it can result in urine backflow to the bladder, thus increasing the risk of urinary tract infections or formation of blood clots that can then obstruct the catheter.
Description: In the scope of a previous thesis [insert link for public version], the WSN was firstly deployed with a sink node and one sensor node, forming a system for assistive Human-Computer Interaction, providing convenient use of a computer, without resorting to typical standard interfaces. Now, another sensor node should be added to the WSN, to guarantee that UDBs are monitored with accuracy and without creating overload on the caregiver. The goal of this work is to include sensors in the UDB, allowing the monitoring of fluid level. The current status of the UDB can then be stated to the caregiver and, in case of a health emergency, i.e., the bag is reaching fullness, that situation is reported. Some aspects to approach during the elaboration of this work include:
- Study the State-of-the-Art on techniques for UDB monitoring;
- Survey the resources needed to implement a system with the mentioned specifications;
- Implement the circuit and develop the firmware for this sensor node to monitor the UDB;
- Ensure that this node co-exists successfully on the global WSN, so that the latter maintains its robustness and reliability;
- Evaluate the developed prototype with a clinical trial duly validated by an Ethics Committee.
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