Access-H20: Sensor driven smart faucet to enable and empower independent drinking and grooming for individuals impacted by spinal cord injury

SCI incidence ranges from 250k-500k globally/year, with >7M people impacted. Currently >300k U.S. individuals live with SCI. SCI results in life-altering consequences in terms of morbidity, mortality, functional status, employment, and quality of life. For quadriplegics with cervical injuries, even basic ADLs are severely compromised. Individuals learn assistive strategies for ADLs such as eating, drinking, grooming, functional bathing, dressing, & toileting. Gaining independence is key factor for quality of life, as adding independent ADLs contributes to increased self-esteem, confidence, and better mental health. A key feature in many ADLs is access to water for drinking, washing, & grooming. However, control & delivery form factor of water (On/Off, temperature, force & angle, and stream/spray type) have different requirements for unique ADLs. Traditional faucets are very challenging, if not impossible, with high level SCI and limited control degrees of freedom to adjust and control. The Access-H2O smart faucet, being developed by Nasoni, LLC, will solve these market challenges by intelligent sensor integration, automated flow adjustment, intuitive control algorithms, & connected, cloud data architecture to improve water accessibility for targeted ADLs in SCI. The smart faucet design delivers water through either traditional downward spout or upward fountain delivery, allowing a single faucet to be used by all in a household. System design will integrate a sensor network (proximity, voice, camera, & eye gaze sensor) which can be calibrated based on an individual’s remaining control degrees of freedom. Intelligent algorithm mapping will allow users to activate and adjust the faucet through various flow and temperature parameters for a given task. For example, the faucet will automatically adjust to warm, spray, and higher delivery angle for face washing, as opposed to cold, stream, and lower delivery angle for drinking. Finally, a connected, cloud data architecture and mobile app will support calibration, usability, remote service, and clinical reporting. This project will build on successful Phase I, in which a technical faucet foundation including flow control & sensors were designed/prototyped, control algorithms verified, & integrated system validated in pilot usability. This Phase II will expand that foundation with five overall Aims. 1) Optimize the current faucet design will be for form factor and sensor integration, as well as technically verified at the system level. 2) Enhance water control algorithms with expanded features, while novel diagnostic algorithms & connected digital ecosystem drive usability & support. 3) The enhanced platform will be tested for in clinic usability in the SCI target population. 4) Transition the design to formal manufacturing process to ensure that design meets performance standards and regulatory requirements and to produce pre-production prototypes for testing 5) Conduct in-home clinical trial to demonstrate effectiveness of Access H2O smart sensor faucet.