Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
49 Neonatal Vitals Monitoring and Phototherapy Device
Honorable Mention
Amartya Purushottam
Hiba Shahid
Parul Agrawal
Kexin Hui design_document0.pdf
final_paper0.pdf
presentation0.pptx
proposal0.pdf
Jaundice is the number 1 reason newborns are readmitted to hospitals worldwide [1]. 5-10% of newborn mortality worldwide is due to jaundice and every year over 6 million babies with severe jaundice are not receiving adequate treatment [2,1]. Phototherapy is a known treatment for jaundice and works by emitting blue light over the patient’s skin and, through photo-oxidation and photoisomerization, converts bilirubin molecules to a less toxic, isomeric form [3]. Here we propose building a system which uses phototherapy to treat jaundice and takes vitals important to neonatal health (i.e., temperature, weight, and heart rate) to be applied for healthcare in developing countries.

While simplistic phototherapy systems currently exist in low-resource hospitals, an inexpensive system of treating neonatal jaundice and monitoring vital signs simultaneously does not exist. The added vitals component enables healthcare workers (doctors and nurses) to be able to spend more time in actually treating patients as opposed to having to take the time to measure and take temperature, heart rate, and weight. This is especially useful for hospitals in developing countries, wherein nurses and doctors are continuously severely understaffed.

The inspiration for this project comes from one of our team members actually visiting a developing nation (Nicaragua), working in the pediatrics wing of rural hospitals (mainly Somoto and Granada, Nicaragua) and analyzing their needs both through interviews and observations. Several doctors and nurses described that some sort of device like this would significantly aid them during neonatal care, especially if er are successful in making this cost-efficient as is planned.

The device will appear in a box shape with overhead lighting; moreover, the device can be best visualized as a mobile incubator. This device can essentially be broken down into 3 major components:

* Phototherapy device (for jaundice treatment)

* Vitals monitoring system (anklet with pulse oximeter, temperature sensor, weight measuring system)

* Temperature regulation (heated mattress + feedback loop)

Phototherapy Device:

For the purposes of creating this device for application in low-resource settings, the phototherapy device will just involve a panel of blue LEDs (preferably 450-465 nm wavelength range). Exposing the patient’s skin to blue light is a simple and cost friendly solution to treating jaundice and is a long-proven concept [1]. This panel of LEDs would be above the infant and facing towards the infant. The efficacy of this device will be validated by comparing the total irradiance or light intensity of the LED panel to currently-existing phototherapy systems [1,2].

Vitals Monitoring System:

The vitals monitoring system consists of a pulse oximeter, temperature sensor, and a force sensor to monitor the baby’s weight. These sensors will ideally be attached to the baby’s fingers and ankle. We will build the pulse oximeter. The pulse oximeter will measure the reflectance of injected red and infrared LEDs of the infant's skin; furthermore, using this signal we will be able to extrapolate the baby’s pulse. The temperature sensors will monitor the baby’s temperature. We will be automating the task of weighing the baby via the force sensor as well using the trend data to inform doctors when babies are potentially in critical condition (due to water loss, etc.). Pulse, temperature data, and weight tracking will be displayed on the device on a basic external hex display. These sensors will be controlled and programed by a standard microcontroller unit.

Temperature Regulation:

A large part of neonatal incubation involves regulating the temperature of the environment the baby is in. The accepted range of temperatures for an ideal condition for these infants is between 33-37 degrees Celsius. Temperature sensors will be placed near the bottom of the bassinet structure to measure the ambient temperature of the environment. Using a feedback control loop using the the heating component within this designed “mattress” will either turn on or off. The design that we’re planning on implementing for the actual heating component is simple system using wire, carbon heater tape, resistors and a power supply.

References

[1] http://d-rev.org/projects/newborn-health/

[2] http://www.designthatmatters.org/firefly/

[3] http://www.who.int/medical_devices/innovation/compendium_med_dev2011_8.pdf

Interactive Proximity Donor Wall Illumination

Sungmin Jang, Anita Jung, Zheng Liu

Interactive Proximity Donor Wall Illumination

Featured Project

Team Members:

Anita Jung (anitaj2)

Sungmin Jang (sjang27)

Zheng Liu (zliu93)

Link to the idea: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=27710

Problem:

The Donor Wall on the southwest side of first floor in ECEB is to celebrate and appreciate everyone who helped and donated for ECEB.

However, because of poor lighting and color contrast between the copper and the wall behind, donor names are not noticed as much as they should, especially after sunset.

Solution Overview:

Here is the image of the Donor Wall:

http://buildingcampaign.ece.illinois.edu/files/2014/10/touched-up-Donor-wall-by-kurt-bielema.jpg

We are going to design and implement a dynamic and interactive illuminating system for the Donor Wall by installing LEDs on the background. LEDs can be placed behind the names to softly illuminate each name. LEDs can also fill in the transparent gaps in the “circuit board” to allow for interaction and dynamic animation.

And our project’s system would contain 2 basic modes:

Default mode: When there is nobody near the Donor Wall, the names are softly illuminated from the back of each name block.

Moving mode: When sensors detect any stimulation such as a person walking nearby, the LEDs are controlled to animate “current” or “pulses” flowing through the “circuit board” into name boards.

Depending on the progress of our project, we have some additional modes:

Pressing mode: When someone is physically pressing on a name block, detected by pressure sensors, the LEDs are controlled to

animate scattering of outgoing light, just as if a wave or light is emitted from that name block.

Solution Components:

Sensor Subsystem:

IR sensors (PIR modules or IR LEDs with phototransistor) or ultrasonic sensors to detect presence and proximity of people in front of the Donor Wall.

Pressure sensors to detect if someone is pressing on a block.

Lighting Subsystem:

A lot of LEDs is needed to be installed on the PCBs to be our lighting subsystem. These are hidden as much as possible so that people focus on the names instead of the LEDs.

Controlling Subsystem:

The main part of the system is the controlling unit. We plan to use a microprocessor to process the signal from those sensors and send signal to LEDs. And because the system has different modes, switching between them correctly is also important for the project.

Power Subsystem:

AC (Wall outlet; 120V, 60Hz) to DC (acceptable DC voltage and current applicable for our circuit design) power adapter or possible AC-DC converter circuit

Criterion for success:

Whole system should work correctly in each mode and switch between different modes correctly. The names should be highlighted in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing way. Our project is acceptable for senior design because it contains both hardware and software parts dealing with signal processing, power, control, and circuit design with sensors.

Project Videos