TY - JOUR
T1 - Ortho-Monitorizer
T2 - A Portable Device to Monitor Pressure and Temperature During the Use of Upper Limb Orthoses
AU - Dinis, Eduarda
AU - Gonçalves, Raquel
AU - Rodrigues, Inês
AU - Mendes, Bruno
AU - Quintão, Carla
AU - Vigário, Ricardo
AU - Quaresma, Cláudia
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, through the research center Grants No. UIDB/FIS/04559/2020 and No. UIDP/FIS/04559/2020 (LIBPhys), from FCT/MCTES, Portugal.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - This article presents Ortho-Monitorizer, a portable device for temperature and pressure monitorization in three pressure points of the upper limb, while a static orthosis is being used. The purpose of this device is to inform healthcare professionals, not only if the patient has been wearing the orthosis for the prescribed time, but also if it is too tight, or if there is any inflammatory reaction, that leads to an increase in local temperature. The data transfer is done through the Bluetooth Low Energy AT-09 module. Data is shown in an Android application and saved in real time in a database. To start the data acquisition, the user just needs to connect the device to a power bank, register in the application, make the Bluetooth connection with the device, and then select the option of the specific characteristic that will save the values measured by the sensors. The Android application is still under development to improve usability. The orthoses used for the acquisitions were created specifically for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and used for two consecutive days, by two healthy volunteers. Our findings indicate that, although some care is needed during acquisitions, namely in terms of positioning the active areas of the sensors and the internet connection, the device makes acquisitions correctly. It allows us to identify when the person is using the orthosis and the existing pressure differences. Therefore, in the future this prototype could be incorporated into a clinical setting, to allow therapists to monitor compliance and prevent pressure ulcers and wounds.
AB - This article presents Ortho-Monitorizer, a portable device for temperature and pressure monitorization in three pressure points of the upper limb, while a static orthosis is being used. The purpose of this device is to inform healthcare professionals, not only if the patient has been wearing the orthosis for the prescribed time, but also if it is too tight, or if there is any inflammatory reaction, that leads to an increase in local temperature. The data transfer is done through the Bluetooth Low Energy AT-09 module. Data is shown in an Android application and saved in real time in a database. To start the data acquisition, the user just needs to connect the device to a power bank, register in the application, make the Bluetooth connection with the device, and then select the option of the specific characteristic that will save the values measured by the sensors. The Android application is still under development to improve usability. The orthoses used for the acquisitions were created specifically for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and used for two consecutive days, by two healthy volunteers. Our findings indicate that, although some care is needed during acquisitions, namely in terms of positioning the active areas of the sensors and the internet connection, the device makes acquisitions correctly. It allows us to identify when the person is using the orthosis and the existing pressure differences. Therefore, in the future this prototype could be incorporated into a clinical setting, to allow therapists to monitor compliance and prevent pressure ulcers and wounds.
KW - Bluetooth Low Energy
KW - Monitoring
KW - Orthosis
KW - Pressure
KW - Rehabilitation
KW - Temperature
KW - Upper-limb
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140888728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s42979-022-01432-2
DO - 10.1007/s42979-022-01432-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85140888728
SN - 2662-995X
VL - 4
JO - SN Computer Science
JF - SN Computer Science
IS - 1
M1 - 34
ER -