Wearable COVID-19 sensor receives NSF RAPID grant
"By continuously monitoring high-risk individuals, such as healthcare workers and the elderly, we can minimize the number of unnecessary hospital visits and provide an early warning to enable preventive measures."
John Rogers, SQI faculty member
A research team led by SQI faculty member John Rogers has received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue developing a novel wearable device and set of algorithms specifically tailored to catch early signs and monitor progression of COVID-19.
Rogers launched the device in April in partnership with researchers at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. About the size of a postage stamp, the flexible device sits on a patient's throat and continuously tracks and interprets a range of symptoms associated with COVID-19, including coughing intensity and patterns, chest wall movements, respiratory sounds, heart rate and body temperature.
The NSF rapid response research (RAPID) grant will help Rogers and his team incorporate more advanced data analytics into the device and add a sensor to measure oxygen levels in the blood. Low oxygen level is another key sign of COVID-19 but one that usually goes unnoticed until patients become incredibly sick.
“Our device addresses a key issue in the COVID-19 pandemic: the limited capacity of healthcare systems,” said Rogers, who directs the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics. “By continuously monitoring high-risk individuals, such as healthcare workers and the elderly, we can minimize the number of unnecessary hospital visits and provide an early warning to enable preventive measures.”
Read the full press release from Northwestern Now.