WPI professor receives $500K to develop wearable respiratory sensor

Photo | Courtesy of WPI Ulkuhan Guler, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at WPI

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By Katherine Hamilton

Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher Ulkuhan Guler was granted $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to develop a wearable sensor designed to improve home care of patients with respiratory illnesses, according to a Wednesday press release from WPI.

The sensor, which would be the size of a small bandage, measures oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in arterial blood and would serve as a replacement for drawing blood from patients to measure such levels. The sensor would be less invasive and give readings more frequently than the current blood drawing method.

“Respiratory diseases are a leading cause of death and disability,” Guler said in the press release. “Medical providers need technologies to measure and monitor the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels of critically ill patients at home, and a miniaturized sensor worn on the skin could make that possible.”

Guler, who is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at WPI, received the funding from NSF’s CAREER grant, which focuses on supporting women researchers early in their careers.

The money will go toward a pilot study testing the device on 50 healthy adult volunteers and will allow Guler to expand her mentoring and education activities for undergraduate students.