Title:  Novel Multimodal Sensing Systems for Wearable Knee Health Assessment

Committee: 

Dr. Inan, Advisor 

Dr. Bakir, Chair

Dr. Wang

Abstract:

The objective of the proposed research is to develop wearable, multimodal sensing technologies to facilitate joint health and rehabilitation monitoring.  Such a wearable joint health assessment system consists of four major components: (1) sensors and sensing techniques to measure robust and repeatable joint sounds; (2) wearable electronics to record multiple modalities of joint health data; (3) packaging solutions to facilitate high-quality wearable measurements; and (4) feature extraction and machine learning algorithms to output a joint health score. This research focuses on the first three of these four objectives. First, “air” (microelectromechanical systems and electret microphones) microphones were shown to provide robust measurements in terms of signal quality and consistency for repeated measurements. Second, a microcontroller-based system was developed to sample high-throughput audio data as well as lower-rate electrical bioimpedance, inertial, and temperature data. As part of the proposed work, the sensors and electronics will be incorporated into a wearable brace. Specifically, techniques for ensuring sufficient coupling between contact microphones and the skin without the use of adhesive will be explored. Additionally, practical dry electrodes for electrical bioimpedance will be examined, and flexible printed circuit boards will be investigated to improve form.