MSU Researchers Develop Wearable Sensors for Measuring Physical Activity

The Electrical Engineering and Kinesiology departments of the MSU (Michigan State University) have collaborated to develop a sensor network which could be worn by a person, to determine a person’s complete wellness and also physical activity.

The technology was developed by MSU’s Engineering Professor, Subhir Biswas. Three small wireless sensors will be worn by the participants on their lower leg, upper arm and wrist respectively, and these sensors would measure the time, intensity and frequency of physical activity, and also the type of activity indulged in. The data thus gathered would be passed on wirelessly to servers, used by medical service providers, for assessment and management of wellness.

According to Karin Pfeiffer of MSU’s Kinesiology department, if physical activity can be measured accurately, then obesity and other health impairing factors could be battled against, and this technology a valuable advancement.

Funding for this project was from a two year grant, by the National Institutes of health amounting to $411,000. The popular choice for measuring motion is accelerometers. But they come with many restrictions such as uphill movements, activities carried out when a person stands still, and so on cannot be measured. Hence Biswas and Pfeiffer are crafting a system to detect accurately varied activities, and also measure the energy spent on doing them.

Biswas working on this technology for many years has successfully incorporated it into NASA, U.S Department of Agriculture and National Science Foundation Projects.

Biswas has developed a working prototype or model, which would be tested on graduate students in Pfeiffer’s department. The current project’s results will be a facilitating tool for advanced studies, such as real-time feedback to participants, on-body statistical data processing and so on.

According to Pfeiffer, the additional information obtained about physical activity helps in the preparation of customized, efficient exercise programs, which would be of great help.

Source: http://news.msu.edu