Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center and Department of Athletics http://wexnermedical.osu.edu are collaborating with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) www.wpaafb.af.mil/AFRL to develop sensor technologies to detect, measure, analyze, and help patients improve their health. The use of these sensors will be used to help individuals with autism, TBI, stroke, sleep disorders and chronic pain, athletes in individual and team sports, and Air Force personnel.
The collaboration between Ohio State and the Air Force will develop technologies and commercialization products via the Neurotechnology Innovations Translator www.neurottechtranslator.com, an Ohio Third Frontier-funded center, that links Ohio State and AFRL Researchers are developing wearable sensors, biomarkers, assessment tools and analytics for measuring and monitory physiological functions at home, work, and in clinical settings.
Some of the studies will involve Ohio State athletes who will be monitored for target biomarkers that play a role in limiting physical performance or controlling stress. This will involve developing external wearable sensors and monitors to help detect and correct performance issues.
Another project involving researchers at Ohio State in the Spine Research Institute http://spine.osu.edu involves developing a wearable diagnostic tool called the “Clinical Lumbar Motion Monitor” (CLMM) to better diagnose and treat patients with spine-related problems.
The CLMM is worn on the back and tracks a patient’s range of motion as the patient performs various prescribed movements. Based on these movements, the CLMM creates a statistical analysis of the extent and nature of a patient’s impairment.
The CLMM report can help physicians decide if the problem is muscular, or a more serious structural, disk, or bone problem. It also enables physicians to quantitatively assess and track a patient’s response to treatment.
CLMM can be combined with CT and MRI data to provide a personalized model of a patient’s spine. Modeling incorporates the material properties of the bone, muscle and ligament of the spine to determine the physical forces acting on the spine and back.