(Press-News.org) Research calling for the use of a wearable computing system installed in a helmet to protect construction workers from carbon monoxide poisoning, a serious lethal threat in this industry, has garnered the Virginia Tech investigators a Best Paper Award from a prestigious scientific and engineering community.
This award will be presented at the August 17-21, 2013 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Conference on Automation Science and Engineering.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is a significant problem for construction workers in both residential and industrial settings. The danger exists because the exhaust from gasoline-powered hand tools can quickly build up in enclosed spaces and easily overcome the tool's users and nearby co-workers.
In the paper, the researchers explained how they integrated a pulse oximetry sensor into a typical construction helmet to allow continuous and noninvasive monitoring of workers' blood gas saturation levels. The results of their study showed that a user of this helmet would be warned of impending carbon monoxide poisoning with a probability of greater than 99 percent.
The award-winning research and resulting paper was written by Jason B. Forsyth, of Durham, N.C., and a Ph.D. candidate in computer engineering, his adviser Thomas L. Martin, professor of electrical and computer engineering, Deborah Young-Corbett, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and a member of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction, and Ed Dorsa, associate professor of industrial design.
The paper, Feasibility of Intelligent Monitoring of Construction Workers for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning," can be found at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=6200386. It was the focus of Forsyth's master's thesis, and Martin, Young-Corbett and Dorsa were all members of his graduate committee.
Ten Virginia Tech students participated in the study conducted on the university campus. They mimicked simple tasks of construction workers.
To show the feasibility of monitoring for carbon monoxide poisoning without subjecting the users to dangerous conditions, the researchers used a prototype for monitoring the blood oxygen saturation. The difference for monitoring for oxygen and for carbon monoxide differs only in the number of wavelengths of light employed, so if this monitoring proved feasible, then the monitoring for carbon monoxide would be feasible as well.
They selected a helmet for the installation of a wearable computer because they needed a design that could be worn year round which ruled out seasonal clothing such as overalls or coats. They also wanted a design that was socially acceptable, and one that struck a balance between comfort, usability, and feasibility.
"This helmet is only a first step toward our long-term vision of having a network of wearable and environmental sensors and intelligent personal protective gear on construction sites that will improve safety for workers," according to their report. "While this helmet targets carbon monoxide poisoning, we believe there are compelling opportunities for wearable computing in reducing injuries due to falls, electrocution, and particulate inhalation, as well as workers on foot being struck by vehicles."
Martin is a past recipient of both the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, both furthering his research in the design of electronic textiles and "smart" clothes.
Young-Corbett is working in a new field of engineering known as Prevention through Design or PtD. This optimal method of preventing occupational illnesses, injuries, and fatalities is to "design out" the hazards and risks; thereby, eliminating the need to control them during work operations. She is also the associate director of the Center for Innovation in Construction Safety and Health Research of the Institute of Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech.
Dorsa has a National Science Foundation funded studio in interdisciplinary product development, working with faculty from the College of Engineering and the College of Business' Department of Marketing. In 2005, Design Intelligence chose him as one of the 40 most admired industrial design faculty in the U.S.
INFORMATION:
Equipping a construction helmet with a sensor can detect the onset of carbon monoxide poisoning
2013-08-17
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Calcium plus vitamin D supplementation does not reduce joint symptoms in postmenopausal women
2013-08-16
Philadelphia, PA, August 15, 2013 – A team of investigators systematically analyzed the effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on joint symptoms in a rigorous and controlled study of postmenopausal women. They found that supplementation did not reduce the severity of joint symptoms reported by the participants. Their results are published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The influence of low calcium and vitamin D deficiency on joint symptoms has been studied with mixed results. Only some observational studies have associated vitamin D ...
'Reprogrammed' treatment-resistant lymphomas respond to cancer drugs
2013-08-16
PHILADELPHIA — A phase I clinical trial showed diffuse, large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) resistant to chemotherapy can be reprogrammed to respond to treatment using the drug azacitidine, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Patients whose lymphomas recur after initial chemotherapy are treated with a combination of approaches, including high-dose chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant. However, some patients have tumors that do not respond to these extensive second treatments, and many of ...
New flow battery could enable cheaper, more efficient energy storage
2013-08-16
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- MIT researchers have engineered a new rechargeable flow battery that doesn't rely on expensive membranes to generate and store electricity. The device, they say, may one day enable cheaper, large-scale energy storage.
The palm-sized prototype generates three times as much power per square centimeter as other membraneless systems -- a power density that is an order of magnitude higher than that of many lithium-ion batteries and other commercial and experimental energy-storage systems.
The device stores and releases energy in a device that relies on a ...
Middle-aged men, women not equal in heart attack risk
2013-08-16
High cholesterol levels are much more risky for middle-aged men than middle-aged women when it comes to having a first heart attack, a new study of more than 40,000 Norwegian men and women has shown.
The study, just published in the September issue of Epidemiology, shows that being a middle-aged male and having high cholesterol levels results in a negative synergistic effect that the researchers did not observe in women. However, current clinical guidelines for treating high cholesterol levels do not differentiate between men and women.
"Our results suggest that in ...
Chemotherapy before radiotherapy for testicular cancer could reduce long-term side-effects
2013-08-16
Giving men with testicular cancer a single dose of chemotherapy alongside radiotherapy could improve the effectiveness of treatment and reduce the risk of long-term side-effects, a new study reports.
As many as 96% of men with testicular cancer now survive at least ten years from diagnosis (1), but more advanced forms need to be treated with combination chemotherapy – which can have serious long-term complications.
Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have therefore been searching for new treatments that would ...
University of East Anglia research shows how females choose the 'right' sperm
2013-08-16
VIDEO:
University of East Anglia scientists have revealed how females select the 'right' sperm to fertilize their eggs when faced with the risk of being fertilized by wrong sperm from a...
Click here for more information.
University of East Anglia scientists have revealed how females select the 'right' sperm to fertilize their eggs when faced with the risk of being fertilized by wrong sperm from a different species.
Researchers investigated salmon and trout, which fertilize ...
Agricultural fires in Mozambique and Malawi
2013-08-16
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected dozens of fires burning in southeastern Africa in mostly Mozambique and Malawi. The fires are outlined in red.
The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. The main growing season starts with the first ...
Fires in eastern Russia -- Urals and Siberia
2013-08-16
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected dozens of fires burning in eastern Russia in this satellite image captured on August 15, 2013. The fires are outlined in red. Smoke appears as grayish, wispy air currents.
The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades ...
Drug dosing for older heart patients should differ
2013-08-16
DURHAM, N.C. – Older heart patients present unique challenges for determining the optimal dosages of medications, so a new study from researchers at Duke Medicine offers some rare clarity about the use of drugs that are used to treat patients with heart attacks.
For certain heart patients older than age 75, a half-dose of the anti-platelet drug prasugrel works about as well as the typical dosage of clopidogrel, according to a team led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute that looked at a sub-study of a large clinical trial.
"As people live longer throughout the ...
JPIDS explores trends in perinatally infected HIV patients now approaching adulthood
2013-08-16
ARLINGTON, VA, August 16, 2013—The advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic disease. In one of the largest studies of perinatally infected HIV (PHIV) patients to date, Agwu, et al, found that the proportion of patients on ART has increased and rates of viremia and advanced immunosuppression have decreased. But the rates of both markers in older patients are higher, according to an article in the Fall issue of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (JPIDS).
The retrospective study of the HIV Research ...