Opportunity analysis project report

1. Mobile Technologies for Survivors of Traumatic Brain
Injury (TBI)
11/20/2012

2. We started with a focus on solving a single
problem targeted to a specific demographic.

3. Our target market was Survivors of
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) who were
experiencing emotional and behavioral
difficulties. The problem we identified was;
TBI Survivors often experience a diminished
capability to recognize when they are
experiencing increased stress or emotion. It
is quite common for TBI Survivors to lack
awareness of Mental and Physiological
changes occurring within themselves when
they are experiencing perceived threats or
stress. This lack of awareness can result in
socially unacceptable behaviors, including
emotional outbursts that often occur with
little or no warning to the survivor and those
around him.

4. Our solution was to utilize wearable physiologic sensors that would monitor
the TBI Survivors Heart rate, Respiration rate, Skin Temperature, Muscle
Tension, perspiration, and the electrical activity of the heart
(Electrocardiograph). These sensors would communicate via Bluetooth to a
smart phone or tablet running an iOS, Windows or Android Application that
would alert the TBI Survivor that they are exhibiting physiological signs of
increased stress or emotion. The TBI Survivor would then have time to
analyze their situation and take action to reduce or negate the situation that is
causing the stress or emotion. The Application would offer suggestions and
provide techniques including deep breathing exercises, meditation,
progressive relaxation, or other strategies to reduce the stress or
emotion. The system could contact Care givers and family members to alert
them and would even identify the TBI Survivors physical location via GPS. In
an extreme case the system could prompt the TBI survivor for a response. If
the TBI Survivor is unresponsive it could contact emergency services and
display critical health information for emergency responders.

5. By surveying 25 TBI Survivors and 5 care-givers who were also family members
we learned the following; 15 of the 25 Survivors and all of the care givers either
strongly agreed or agreed that the TBI Survivor has difficulty sensing and
controlling their emotions. A majority of respondents agreed that they get
angry without warning and have difficulty taking queues and suggestions from
others. 18 of the Survivors and 4 of the care givers strongly agreed that they
would welcome a technology that could alert them to an increase in the TBI
Survivors stress or emotions. When the Survivors were asked if they would want
the alert to go to a family member or caregiver only 6 agreed and more telling 13
strongly disagreed. 4 of the 5 caregivers agreed that they would want to be
alerted. When told that they would need to wear sensors either in a chest strap
or a shirt for the system to work, 10 participants agreed, 10 neither agreed nor
disagreed and 5 either disagreed or strongly disagreed. When told that they
would need to carry and use either a smart phone or a tablet for the system to
work, 20 participants agreed that they would.

6. In an effort to better understand our
potential customer’s needs and to gather
more information and clarify some of our
questions about the survey answers, we
interviewed 10 TBI survivors. We learned
that most were more concerned about
adapting to and compensating for changes
in their cognitive functioning than any other
concerns. Almost all the survivors were
aware of changes in