Supporting patients with cognitive impairments requires monitoring systems that are both effective and imperceptible to the patient. The STOPme project focuses on a paradigmatic case: the Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe motor and cognitive impairment, as well as the occurrence of stereotypies and cardiorespiratory alterations.

STOPme aims to assess the patient’s psychomotor activation state in real time, monitoring the onset of neuromotor stereotypies and hypo-/hyperventilation patterns, in order to condition the patient to interrupt the stereotypies. This is achieved through a wearable multisensory detection system that uses textile and epidermal sensors, along with inertial sensors and both commercial and custom electronics, to measure biopotentials, respiration, and limb movements.

The collected data is transmitted to a hub for data logging and interpretation through edge artificial intelligence algorithms. The conditioning to interrupt the stereotypy is carried out by the system through the activation of vibrotactile and environmental stimuli (lights, colors, sounds).

The project goes beyond the development of a single device, advancing the concept of a multilayer interactive environment and integrating the functions of the wearable system with home automation, exploring its feasibility and market potential. STOPme can be easily extended to other neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

STOPme is a PNRR cascade-funding project, funded by the European Union, NextGenerationEU – Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca – Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza – Ecosistema RAISE – Robotics And AI for Socio- Economic Empowerment – Spoke 2: Smart Devices and Technologies for Personal and Remote Healthcare.

Official webpage of the leading beneficiary: https://web.unica.it/unica/it/dip_ingelettrica_s2_ss6_3.page