Main Subcommittee Category: Emerging Concepts and Innovative Technologies

How would you label your submission?: Industry

Abstract:

As aircraft become more sophisticated, there are increasing demands on pilots to monitor and assess aircraft operations. Simultaneously, a pilot’s ability to monitor and assess operations may be hindered by physiological episodes or a loss in performance due to fatigue, stress, hypoxia, hypocapnia, atelectasis, hypothermia, and G-force. This is particularly relevant for fast jet aircraft where a physiological episode may spell disaster. Measuring and recording physiological parameters that directly assess human health and performance in the flight environment is critical to understanding, supporting, and training pilots. However, gathering high quality data is challenging. Sensor accuracy can be impacted by sensor location, sampling rates, movement artifacts, and more. Layers of gear can limit viability of sensors and impose constraints on practicality, signal quality, and user acceptability. This work explores whether biosensing garments can address these challenges, among others, through three research questions: (1) how effective are biosensing garments in capturing physiological signals for both males and females in the environments that fighter pilots operate, (2) how acceptable are biosensing garments to fighter pilots for capturing physiological signals, and (3) how can biosensing garments detect states that may indicate fighter pilot physiological episodes. To answer these questions, seven within-subject evaluations were conducted where biosensing garments suited to both male and female physiology were assessed using a reduced oxygen breathing device (ROBD), altitude chamber, thermal chamber, cycle ergometer, centrifuge, and aircraft. The apparel was compared to well-established, clinical grade sensors, and subjective feedback was collected. Results suggest the apparel has potential for effectively capturing heart rate, breathing rate, and breathing depth in the extreme environments fighter pilots operate and highlight the challenge of assessing physiological monitoring in flight. Assessment of pilot acceptance criteria provides insight into the best applications, potential limitations, and optimal areas of use for biosensing apparel.

Keywords: MODELING;PHYSIOLOGICAL ;WEARABLE DEVICES

Additional Keywords not in the list above: breath detection, biosensor

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Dr. Nichola Lubold