Spring 2021

ExoGuard

Nearly 65 million Americans report experiencing episodes of back pain each year. While many believe back pain only affects the elderly, it is the leading cause of disability in people younger than 45. Within the workplace, there is an abundance of perceivably harmless motions that can cause strains and sprains on the lower back. The accumulation of back injuries is especially prevalent in jobs that are physically strenuous, often requiring lifting or pulling heavy objects and leaning. Small back injuries, frequent in firefighters and construction workers, lay the foundation for the development of future chronic injuries. Our spinal position monitoring device, ExoGuard, aims to reduce the development of back injuries by identifying the risk of harmful motions and development of spinal injuries from minor sprains and by notifying the user of exposure to harmful positions that would otherwise go unnoticed.

ExoGuard is an athletic, moisture-wicking shirt with embedded sensors that track the position and movement of the wearer’s spine. The wearable device includes three pockets holding sensors and also consists of two 9-degrees of freedom IMUS, one between the shoulder blades and another on the lower back. The sensors measure torsion and relative positions and the data is transmitted to the wearer’s phone with the ExoGuard application. By being informed real-time of their posture and back movements, wearers are able to build good posture habits according to the feedback from the shirt and prevent long-term strain from cramped conditions or strenuous labor. Through biofeedback and comfortable, unobtrusive design, ExoGuard will help prevent the development of lower back pain.