Design of a Wearable Soft Sensor to monitor Skin Health

For people with mobility impairments, such as spinal cord injury survivors, rehabilitation and at home care settings come with the possibility of costly, painful pressure ulcers and skin breakdown. Occurring at a high frequency, current practice requires constant vigilance by caretakers and individuals using self-management practices. This injury comes from a prolonged application of pressures, temperatures and humid environments causing the skin to die from a lack of blood flow, usually from situations that an able-bodied person can avoid, but those with mobility impairments cannot. Our research project looks to create a wearable garment, personalised to the individual, that provides information to the user and caretaker on how best to adjust the body’s pose and placement to prevent pressure ulcer formation beyond the current “visual inspection” approach commonly used to decrease pressure ulcer risk.

Faculty Supervisor:

James Tung

Student:

Christian Mele

Partner:

Incubate Innovate Network of Canada

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo