Project Title: Daily physical activity monitoring for health

Project Lead's Name: Helaine Alessio

Project Lead's Email: alessih@MiamiOH.edu

Project Lead's Phone: 513-529-2700

Project Lead's Division: EHS

Primary Department: Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health

Other Team Members: Gabe Garcia, Chelsie Fellman, Mason Maish, Jill Sandrik

List Departments Benefiting or Affected by this proposal: Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health

Estimated Number of Under-Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 300

Estimated Number of Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 18

Describe the problem you are attempting to solve and your approach for solving that problem:

The two undergraduate students (Alex and Gabe) and three graduate students (Chelsie, Jill, and Mason) are currently involved in independent studies that focus on assessing daily physical activity before and after an intervention. Devices used for various exercise and nutrition interventions to accurately measure physical activity and inactivity have improved over the years. One such device, ActivPAL, is a miniature electronic logger that measures movement including caloric expenditure when sitting, lying, standing, stepping, bike riding, and other activities in a discrete, non-invasive way. It is the new gold standard for measuring daily physical activity that uses an accelerometer to sense limb position and activity. Students in Exercise Science labs at both the undergraduate and graduate level can design laboratory and field experiments that compare results of different types of devices and, with the assistance of software (that is free from the ActivPAL company), reduce thousands of rows of data and align them with data about their food intake, work, leisure, and sleep activities. This high-tech device will allow students to critically compare assessments of daily physical activity and is able to sort various activities of daily living into different categories (e.g. sitting, lying, standing, riding), and can determine if the amount of daily activity meets minimal physical activity guidelines. This device is practical for short and long-term studies (has been used in over 150 clinical trials) and can result in valuable data that can help students and faculty utilize best practices when assessing physical activity in a natural setting and then evaluate future interventions for optimal health.

How would you describe the innovation and/or the significance of your project:

The innovative aspect of this product is twofold: It is a very small (size of two quarters stacked), non-invasive, easy-to-use device that can be secured to a limb with tape to protect it from water.

It provides both data analytics for infinite inquiries and research questions as well as easy-to-understand infographics that reflect the quantitative data collected from a variety of different movements during activities of daily living. The data provided can be analyzed in numerous ways to reflect and compare daily movement, caloric expenditure, and to determine if movement meets minimal daily CDC guidelines.

How will you assess the success of the project?

It will be included in Kinesiology and Exercise Science teaching laboratories, Nutrition laboratories as well as in research projects that include caloric balance assessment. This device can be used in non-invasive data collection for laboratory experiments, research seminars, independent research, and thesis projects. The extent that the data is incorporated into final projects, conference presentations, and published manuscripts will be tracked. Students will provide feedback about the usefulness of specific laboratory experiments, as well as their independent research studies.

Does this proposal create continuing costs which will need to be funded? If so, how do you plan to fund those continuing costs?

No. This is a one-time only cost and the software is free forever.

Financial Information

Total Amount Requested: $6,503.70

Budget Details:

• activPal micro receivers 25 @ $278 per 10% discount $6,255.00
• activPal port USB docking station 1 @ $193 10% discount $173.70
• Shipping $75.00

Please address how, if at all, this project aligns with University, Divisional, Departmental or Center strategic goals:

Engaging students in meaningful cutting-edge experiential learning and research projects is a priority at Miami University and in the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health. This new technology provides a non-invasive way to quantify activities of daily living and provide research-grade data for analyses. Students--both undergraduate and graduate--can use this new technology in numerous studies currently and in the future in the KNH department.