Smart Detective Gloves (PROSAFE) for Reducing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Injuries

Abstract

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a common health issue that targets the Median Nerve in the Carpal Tunnel Area, causing severe damage that affects the health of the patient and the overall performance of the originations. In this project, we came up with a new innovative smart detective glove that would be able to reduce the effects of CTS using special types of sensors and other supporting tools. The glove is a customer need-driven product that has some important features including measuring and detecting bending angles of the hand, analyzing the hand postures, and warning the users, in addition to that it has to measure the amount of pressure applied to the Carpal Tunnel Area specifically to the Median Nerve. It is cost-effective, light in weight, environmentally friendly, adjustable, and an easy-to-use device. Our approach for designing the glove was the double diamond theory which consists of four main stages starting with discovering our goals and defining the main components of the design followed up with the development of the design concept and its working principle and delivering ourPROSAFE smart glove at the end. Cost Analysis was used to check the feasibility of the design and how effective it is in terms of cost-saving. This glove will be able to predict, follow up CTS progression, warn the users and suggest the best hand posture for specific repetitive work.