The UB will develop technology to measure stress and emotional state in people with disabilities

Pathologies such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke or Alzheimer's, among others, hinder the ability to express emotions or stressful situations, something fundamental in our daily lives. A team from the University of Barcelona (UB) is participating in an ambitious public-private consortium to develop an innovative tool that, based on biometric markers, is capable of diagnosing the emotional state and stress of the user and transmitting this information easily and efficiently to their environment.

“This breakthrough will significantly contribute to overcoming communication barriers for people with disabilities, leading to substantial improvements in the quality of life of both users and their families and carers,” says Jordi Colomer, a professor in the Department of Electronic and Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Physics at the UB, who, together with professor Manel Puig and researcher Pere Maribel, both from the same department, form the UB team involved in the project. The company 3DThinks coordinates this consortium, which also includes researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).

Biomarkers of emotional state

The technology will be composed of minimally invasive sensors that will continuously analyze different chemical biomarkers secreted by the human body, involved in situations of stress or emotional intensity.

In this way, the device will wirelessly transmit the information collected to a data collection and analysis platform that will automatically diagnose the condition of people who are unable to communicate it in a conventional way. “The aim is to facilitate the measurement and management of data in medical environments, research centres and foundations, allowing for a precise assessment of the emotional well-being of users, benefits that in the future may be extended to people with depressive or mental problems, offering options for remote assistance and remote monitoring of emotional biomarkers,” they emphasise.

In this sense, the system could also be very useful for patients with pathologies that require continuous monitoring of the levels of some of the biomarkers that will be analyzed in the project. “This comprehensive approach seeks to improve the quality of life and emotional care of a wide range of users in various clinical and social situations,” the researchers add.

An accessible solution

There are currently some products on the market that are designed to measure the mood or stress of their users. However, according to the researchers, these solutions are focused “mainly on the general population, and have not conducted specific studies to measure biomarkers in people with communication difficulties.”

Furthermore, the aim is to develop a product that is more affordable than the electronic devices that currently exist, which only work on expensive and poorly accessible platforms. “This fact does not allow foundations or people with limited resources to access them and, if they are subsidized by Social Security, their costs are too high. The company's intention in the future is to develop a device that works on more accessible platforms and on more affordable devices,” the researchers point out.

This comprehensive approach seeks to improve the quality of life and emotional care of a wide range of users in various clinical and social situations. Manel Puig Professor

A prototype to complete the project

The consortium's goal is to achieve a viable prototype at the end of the three-year project. To do so, UB researchers, who are part of the Discrete-2- Integrated Systems Laboratory (D2In) and Mixed Signad Research Group, will contribute their knowledge in electronics to develop control and reading systems for chemical sensors, as well as sending the resulting data to the computing platform.

The consortium coordinator, 3DThinks, a company with experience in developing technological solutions to help people with disabilities improve their quality of life, will be responsible for developing the data platform and software. Finally, UPC researchers, through the CATMech Advanced Mechanical Technologies Research Group, will be primarily responsible for developing the sensors and devices for collecting biomarkers.

The three-year project, with reference SCPP2300C010707XV0i, aims to develop a non-invasive disruptive technology for measuring stress and emotional state in people with communication difficulties (EmotionalSigns). For this reason, the University of Barcelona has obtained, within the framework of the public-private collaboration project line, a 2023 call funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the State Research Agency and FEDER.