AWARD YEAR
2019
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Good Health & Well-being
KEYWORDS
wearable technology, pain management, rheumatoid arthritis
COUNTRY
Turkey
DESIGNED BY
GÖZDE GÖNCÜ BERK
NESE TOPCUOGLU
WEBSITE
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352717
Electronic Textile Based Rhemuatoid Arthritis Glove
E-textiled based Rhemuatoid Arthritis glove helps with pain management and joint deformities.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disorder that primarily affects small joints of hands. RA causes painful swelling of lining of joints and stiffness in morning hours and can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity. Chronic diseases like RA require consistent day-to-day actions and continuous visits to healthcare facilities. At home rehabilitation of pain and other symptoms of the disease is possible with use of a wearable technology.
The technology developed is an e-textile structure that reduces RA symptoms by applying electrical stimulation therapy which uses stimulating low-voltage electrical pulses across the surface of the skin and along the nerve strands for pain relief. Electrodes and signal transmission lines embedded in the glove are created by CAD embroidery of conductive thread. Compression membranes are laminated to form textile splint structures around finger joints. A chargeable and detachable control unit enables washability.