Wearable Health Devices (WHDs) are an emerging technology that enables continuous monitoring of vital signs during daily life. Issues with constant and consistent data acquisition have been found while WHD technology has developed. The force of the measurement area and movement of the sensors are key mechanical issues that need to be solved for WHDs to become a viable way to continuously monitor health conditions. This work explores Constant-Force Mechanisms (CFMs) as a solution to problems the current WHD industry faces. Additionally, the relationship between force provided from the mechanism, sensor pressure on the wrist, patient comfort, and sensor readings quality are explored and analyzed. Design requirements for a constant-force wristband were narrowed down to seven critical requirements (mechanism size vs. allowable travel, ability to be used on a curved surface, works well with existing clasps, ease of assembly, direction of travel, material, and force generation). These key requirements need to be considered for a WHD with an integrated CFM to be designed successfully. Two main concepts (buckling beams and tape springs) were prototyped and evaluated against the seven key requirements. The design and testing of a wrist worn sensing band used to gather relationship data among band tension, sensor pressure, patient comfort, and pulsatile signal quality is also presented. Human subject testing (IRB2020-268) was performed on a wristband with an integrated CFM and the wrist worn sensing band that were developed. The band with an integrated CFM compared pressure on the wrist for both a band with and without an integrated CFM for eight different movement activities. On average the band with the integrated CFM had a lower coefficient of variation for all except one of the activities. The data collected from the wrist worn sensing band shows that tension varies linearly with pressure, and that the pressure vs. tension slope increases with increasing wrist width. There also exists a linear relationship between tension and patient pain/comfort, but pressure does not show an effect on the patient discomfort or pain experienced. Signal quality when measured in the range of of 0-4 N and 0-20 kPa does not have a direct correlation to either tension or pressure.

[pt] Os dispositivos vestíveis de saúde, como ferramenta tecnológica, podem contribuir para o diagnóstico e tratamento de doenças, permitir o acompanhamento de pacientes à distância e otimizar a utilização de recursos na indústria da saúde. Este estudo propõe um modelo integrativo de aceitação de tecnologia para avaliar os fatores determinantes da adoção dispositivos vestíveis de saúde pelos consumidores, alinhando construtos oriundos do modelo de aceitação de tecnologia com outros construtos, como prontidão tecnológica, confiança e autoeficácia. Os dados obtidos nos questionários de pesquisa de 424 consumidores, analisados por meio da modelagem de equações estruturais, indicam relações significativas entre os construtos avaliados, tendo sido observada uma particular relevância nos efeitos da utilidade percebida, antecedida pela confiança e prontidão tecnológica, sobre a atitude e a intenção de uso dos dispositivos vestíveis de saúde. Portanto, os resultados desta pesquisa sugerem que o modelo proposto representa um avanço na compreensão dos fatores que influenciam a atitude geral de adoção pela população da tecnologia dos dispositivos vestíveis de saúde. / [en] Wearable health devices, as a technological tool, may contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, besides allowing a remote monitoring of patients and optimizing the use of resources in the health industry. This study proposes an integrative model of technology acceptance to assess the determining factors for the adoption of wearable health devices by users, aligning constructs from the technology acceptance model with other constructs, such as technological readiness, assurance and self-efficacy. The data obtained from the survey questionnaires of 424 consumers, which were analyzed through structural equation modelling, indicate significant relationships between the evaluated constructs. Particular relevance was observed in the effects of perceived usefulness, preceded by assurance and technological readiness, on attitude and intention to use wearable health devices. Therefore, the results of this research suggest that the proposed model represents an advance in the understanding of the factors that influence the general attitude of the population to adopt the use of the technology of wearable health devices.