Project number
25049
Organization
ACABI, supported by Craig M. Berge Dean's Fund
Offering
ENGR498-F2024-S2025
Project Goal/Summary: This project will develop a system to rapidly identify and treat Arizonans with heat stress, dehydration, incipient acute renal failure and related systemic consequences, all resulting from excessive heat exposure in Arizona regions/cities - driven and compounded by global warming. This is a community and population project involving rapid identification of heat-stressed individuals via aerial surveillance of exposed municipal areas, focusing on individuals with prolonged outdoor exposure and the unsheltered. Sun and radiant heat exposure from concrete/roadways leads to overheating and excessive human fluid loss, resulting in acute kidney injury (prerenal azotemia) and related heat-disorders. The designed system will include: 1. a drone-based surveillance system for fly over identification of affected individuals, 2. a drop-down/parachutable or stationary point-of-care sensor system – to measure urinary and salivary status for dehydration assessment, and 3. a treatment means for dispatch and deployment of fluids for rehydration. Successful development of this system will reduce morbidity for thousands of people and save lives.
Requirements: Step 1: Background research. Develop understanding of thermal effects on the kidney, body, and basics of acute renal failure. Determine best methods of measuring specific gravity and osmolarity of urine and saliva. Research technical aspects of aerial temperature determination, Flir cameras, refractometers and osmometers, and telemetry to be utilized in the project. Step 2: Design an aerial drone system with visual and temperature identification means, with telemetry back to a command-control heads-up display unit. Step 3: Develop a small, deployable – parachutable or stationary, point-of-care refractometer/osmometer with digital capability to measure urine or salivary specific gravity and osmolarity. System will have digital relay back to central command control. Step 4: Modify drone of step 1 and develop an accompanying Uber or Lyft or robot delivery means, to deploy electrolyte solutions to the affected individual at geolocation. Step 5: Integrated command control will have reporting means for serial data collection, and an AI prediction module inputting weather information to identify most likely regions needing next drone focus.
Skills Necessary: Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Computer Programming, Machine Learning. Knowledge of sensors, telemetry/communication, coding.
Additional Resources: Slepian Lab for prototyping and wet testing. Friday afternoon mentoring sessions (for all Kidney/ACABI teams) on a rotating pre-scheduled basis will be in place to provide adequate guidance.
Requirements: Step 1: Background research. Develop understanding of thermal effects on the kidney, body, and basics of acute renal failure. Determine best methods of measuring specific gravity and osmolarity of urine and saliva. Research technical aspects of aerial temperature determination, Flir cameras, refractometers and osmometers, and telemetry to be utilized in the project. Step 2: Design an aerial drone system with visual and temperature identification means, with telemetry back to a command-control heads-up display unit. Step 3: Develop a small, deployable – parachutable or stationary, point-of-care refractometer/osmometer with digital capability to measure urine or salivary specific gravity and osmolarity. System will have digital relay back to central command control. Step 4: Modify drone of step 1 and develop an accompanying Uber or Lyft or robot delivery means, to deploy electrolyte solutions to the affected individual at geolocation. Step 5: Integrated command control will have reporting means for serial data collection, and an AI prediction module inputting weather information to identify most likely regions needing next drone focus.
Skills Necessary: Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Computer Programming, Machine Learning. Knowledge of sensors, telemetry/communication, coding.
Additional Resources: Slepian Lab for prototyping and wet testing. Friday afternoon mentoring sessions (for all Kidney/ACABI teams) on a rotating pre-scheduled basis will be in place to provide adequate guidance.