SplintPal: A Monitor for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Splints

SplintPal: A Monitor for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Splints (Johns Hopkins University)

Sofia E. Espinosa, Sapna Kumar and Tony Sheng

SplintPal: A Monitor for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome SplintsWrist splints (orthoses) are commonly used in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, very little is known about the effectiveness splint wear and the benefits of various splint-wearing regimens. The inability to accurately quantify patient compliance may result in this lack of understanding in splinting since no effective or accurate approach to monitoring splint usage currently exists. Researchers and clinicians working to improve CTS treatment need a tool to effectively monitor splint usage in order to quantify patient compliance and evaluate treatment effectiveness.

The SplintPal is a textile force sensor-based system that detects if a splint is being worn depending on whether or not a pre-set force threshold is reached or not. A lithium battery powered microprocessor is used to gather and store the force data read from the sensor.  From the processor, the data can be uploaded to a database by a clinician for analysis. The data collected by this device will offer a credible solution to quantify patient compliance and to aid clinicians and researchers in effectively treating patients and conducting studies, respectively. Other expected outcomes are increased patient compliance and better treatment results. Additionally, the application of this device has the potential to be expanded to non-CTS splinting treatments as well as the potential to be paired with an electronic app that displays the data to a patient and can be customized by either the patient or the clinician to set reminders when it is not being worn appropriately.

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