Researchers receive grant to develop miniature device to measure physical activity

A team of scientists headed by Patty Freedson, chair of the Department of Kinesiology, has been awarded a four-year, $2.1 million grant to develop a small device that will be used to obtain long-term measures of free-living physical activity. The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Genes, Environment and Health Initiative (GEI) that will be examining genes, environmental exposures and behavior choices and how they affect health.

The researchers are working with a private firm, Response Applications LLC, of Hanover, N.H., and a researcher at the University of Tennessee, to develop the new instrument. The grant was written with assistance from the campus’ Office of Research Liaison and Development, which worked with the team to establish a university-industry partnership with Actigraph LLC, of Pensacola, Fla. Actigraph will manufacture the device following its development by Amherst campus researchers and testing in Freedson’s laboratory.

In addition to Freedson, the team includes Robert Gao, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, John Staudenmayer, Mathematics and Statistics, and Jane Kent-Braun, Kinesiology. Other team members are Harold Greely, from Response Applications, and David Bassett, exercise, sport and leisure studies, at the University of Tennessee.

The proposed new device the team is developing will include an accelerometer, which is commonly used to measure body motion, a ventilation sensor that captures the characteristics of breathing, and a sensor to determine if physical activity takes place indoors or outdoors. The team is also designing statistical data processing methods that combine the output of the sensors to estimate the type of physical activity and the amount of energy expended and report them to researchers. At the end of the four-year term of the grant, the team expects to have an instrument that is ready for use in the field.

“During the last 10 years, my research has focused on developing methods in the exercise physiology laboratory to capture and interpret movement assessed with wearable devices,” Freedson says. “This project will move the field forward by incorporating several sensors into one small unit. With the addition of other sensors, we will likely be able to improve upon our ability to quantify physical activity dose for applications related to understanding how much activity is needed for specific health outcomes.”

Freedson says landing the grant involved more than just a team of scientists. “Through assistance of the UMass Research Liaison and Development Office during the proposal development phase, we were able to include a partnership with a physical activity monitor company that will manufacture the device.”

The grant funding for this project is under the Exposure Biology Program, a component of the GEI that is being coordinated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The work Freedson and her team is doing is part of an effort to develop various environmental sensors to measure physical activity, toxins, dietary intake, psychosocial stress and addictive substances. A total of 34 grants worth $19 million were awarded in these areas.

Overall, NIH is funding the first round of grants for the GEI with $48 million. The NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases.

More Information

National Institutes of Health

September 6, 2007.

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