With recent reports estimating that nearly 250 million wearable medical devices will be sold in the next five years, these companies have an opportunity to set the standard by developing new solutions that help promote healthy living, reduce the number of injuries, and even save lives.
For this reason, the online community element14 has recently launched a wearable technology design competition called “Sudden Impact” to get its more than 260,000 design engineers involved in the sector.
From Idea to Prototype:
Twelve participants from around the world were asked to consider how wearable technology solutions can provide crucial, real-time answers to a user group that desperately needs them: athletes. Each participant proposed unique and brilliant devices that we are eager to see developed. They are:
• Joshua Bayfield (UK) Field Hockey: Wireless heart rate ECG monitor, forehead temperature sensor, leg impact and injury monitor and accelerometer-based alert system for downed players.
• Ravi Butani (India) Football, cycling, racing and skiing: vital signs monitoring system to assess head, chest and spine injuries, heart rate ECG monitor and body temperature sensors.
• Shubham Garg (India) Football and skiing: monitors for heart attack, internal bleeding and muscle fatigue.
• Austin Horning (USA) High school sports: smartphone-connected system to assess head impacts and heart rate.
• Dr. Kamrul Hussain (Bangladesh) Soccer, American football, cricket and basketball: detection system to assess body temperature, head injuries, breathing and calf sprains.
• Cosmin Iorga (USA) Tennis: foot, arm and head modules to assess heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen levels, respiratory rate, dehydration and exhaustion.
• Dragan Knezevic (Serbia) General sports: Configurable helmet and uniform sensors to measure vital signs.
• Norbert Kovács (Hungary) Cycling: smart clothing to track heart rate, body temperature, acceleration, speed and route profile.
• Kas Lewis (Canada) General sports: helmet for monitoring in case of hyperthermia, heart attack and cerebral contusions.
• Hendrik Lipka (Germany) Football and skiing: heart rate monitor during training sessions and helmet-mounted impact monitor.
• Robert Waters (USA) General sports: heart rate monitor and strap transducer to assess respiration.
• Douglas Wong (Canada) Hockey: Stress and heart rate sensors and helmet-mounted concussion monitor.
With support from Analog Devices, Tektronix, and Electrolube, participants will be provided with all the necessary tools and equipment to bring their ideas to life, including accelerometers, single-wire heart rate monitors, temperature sensors, and advanced protective polymers. Each participant will also receive a budget of $500 to purchase any additional components they may need. This competition aims to inspire solutions that sports teams can one day use on school courts, tracks, and gyms worldwide.
From prototypes to practice.
However, to use these solutions in the real world, athletes need to be completely confident that they can trust the data collected by their devices. After all, a single error in how the device gathers data can affect an athlete's performance or even their health.
For this reason, the Faculty of Informatics, Creative Technologies and Engineering at Leeds Beckett University will rigorously test each solution once it has been completed. The solutions will be judged on their compliance with four criteria: the effectiveness of how the device uses the provided components; the durability of the devices in a sports environment; whether it is simple enough for secondary school students to use; and, most importantly, the quality of the critical diagnostic information it can provide to coaches, athletes, and medical professionals.
Participants will post blogs, videos, and photos of their design progress on the "Sudden Impact" contest page in the element14 community.
Meanwhile, in this Eureka blog series, the author will explore the questions and challenges facing finalists in wearable device design, as well as the issues affecting this emerging market.
By Christian DeFeo, online supply and innovation manager at Farnell element14
About the author:
Christian DeFeo is the online supply and innovation manager at Farnell element14, a global electronics distributor with an online community of over 260,000 design engineers and technology enthusiasts. He recently oversaw the Beyond the Phone competition, in which members of the element14 community developed wirelessly powered medical devices. He is currently leading the Sudden Impact design competition.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a series of exclusive articles for the Eureka blog exploring the challenges of wearable medical device design, inspired by the new “Sudden Impact” wearable technology design competition.
