{"693300":{"#nid":"693300","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sensing Data Toolkit Helps Improve Therapy for Veterans with PTSD","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClinical psychologists who treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could soon gain better insight into how their patients experience triggering environments and situations outside the clinic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECognitive behavioral therapies require patients to practice skills between sessions. Clinicians rely on retrospective patient reports to understand what happens during that time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, recall bias, selective disclosure, and difficulty remembering can render those reports subjective, incomplete, or inaccurate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClinicians can now see sensor data on how patients\u2019 bodies react in these situations thanks to a new technology toolkit from Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA new app that syncs with a FitBit wearable device can track and record heart rate, step count, noise level, and other sensor data when patients practice prolonged exposure homework assigned by their therapists.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA web dashboard lets clinicians review that data, add notes, and track patient progress. This information helps them structure therapy sessions more effectively and accelerate patient progress.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe toolkit is the culmination of a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/627023\/new-12-million-nsf-grant-aims-improve-treatment-ptsd-patients\u0022\u003E$1.2 million National Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E grant awarded to Georgia Tech\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/riarriaga\/home\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERosa Arriaga\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and Emory\u2019s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/directory\/profile\/?u=AMSHERR\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAndrew Sherrill\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EArriaga is an associate professor at Tech\u2019s School of Interactive Computing. Sherrill is an assistant professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/departments\/psychiatry\/index.html\u0022\u003EDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/med.emory.edu\/\u0022\u003EEmory School of Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESherrill is also a practicing clinical psychologist at the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program and has worked with veterans with PTSD for more than a decade.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EArriaga and the students in her\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.google.com\/view\/riarriaga\/lab?authuser=0\u0022\u003EUbicomp Health and Wellness Lab\u003C\/a\u003E spent five years developing the toolkit, which they call the Patient Engagement Computational Sensing System (PECSS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was a lot of master\u2019s students and undergrads who built the back end to the app and the dashboard,\u201d Arriaga said. \u201cIt was a lot of work and effort by a lot of students to take an idea from conception to deployment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers originally titled the toolkit the Prolonged Exposure Collecting Sensing System, but they changed the name after realizing it could be used for other types of therapy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe idea is that for any therapy that has a homework component, this can bridge the gap between patient self-reporting and clinician intuition,\u201d Arriaga said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.natswinger.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENathaniel Swinger,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E a Ph.D. student in Arriaga\u2019s lab, co-led a paper on the study\u2019s results along with Ph.D. student Myeonghan Ryu. Their paper received a best paper award at the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cscw.acm.org\/2026\/\u0022\u003E2026 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW).\u003C\/a\u003E Best papers are given to less than 1% of the papers published at the conference.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur findings showed that the deployment was quite successful,\u201d Swinger said. \u201cOver 75% of the patients who incorporated PECSS into their treatment experienced a clinically significant change in symptoms. We don\u2019t know if that\u2019s causal, but there is some evidence the system worked to facilitate the process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProlonged exposure is a method for systematically approaching trauma memories and reminders to make them safe and tolerable for patients. It is typically delivered in one-on-one therapy sessions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESherrill said the toolkit shows promise toward enhancing prolonged exposure therapy outside of clinical settings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProlonged exposure has been researched more than any other therapy that exists,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe know it\u2019s effective, but we\u2019ve had problems for decades implementing it in the real world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a need for technology in taking what patients learn in their sessions and having them replicate it outside of the clinic.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil now, the impact prolonged exposure on a patient with PTSD depends on the patient\u2019s willingness to self-report the results of their homework.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe number of potential triggers is an endless list,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe want people to approach them with their guard down and not to engage in avoidance or soothing behaviors.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESherrill said most of his patients have shown interest in continuing to use the toolkit \u2014 even after therapy is no longer needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA system like this could reduce the frequency of sessions with a therapist,\u201d Sherrill said. \u201cWe\u2019re teaching patients to be their own therapists. This toolkit gives them a greater sense of independence.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiven the promising results, Swinger said that ideally the next step would be a large-scale clinical trial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re looking to better test the causal clinical impacts of the system and a more generalizable notion of efficacy,\u201d Swinger said. \u201cWe want to rigorously test it in a clinical setting for people beyond veterans with PTSD.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EClinicians can now see sensor data on how patients\u2019 bodies react in triggering environments thanks to a new technology toolkit from Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clinicians can now see sensor data on how patients\u2019 bodies react in triggering environments thanks to a new technology toolkit from Georgia Tech and Emory University."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2026-10-19 17:24:16","changed_gmt":"2026-10-19 17:26:47","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681463":{"id":"681463","type":"image","title":"AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1792430666","gmt_created":"2026-10-19 17:24:26","changed":"1792430666","gmt_changed":"2026-10-19 17:24:26","alt":"A therapist sits across from her patient who is a veteran with PTSD","file":{"fid":"265871","name":"AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/19\/AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":139731,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/19\/AdobeStock_864610717.jpeg?itok=gpVvUOZu"}}},"media_ids":["681463"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}