{"id":18,"date":"2025-10-20T22:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/?p=18"},"modified":"2025-11-13T23:13:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T23:13:17","slug":"device","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/device\/","title":{"rendered":"Wearable device could predict disease flare-ups"},"content":{"rendered":"
Achieving Excellence<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n

A Husker-developed device may help patients with chronic conditions stay ahead of disease flare-ups, which is key to improved outcomes and reduced mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nebraska engineer Eric Markvicka is developing a wearable monitoring device to detect exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other conditions like asthma, heart disease and inflammatory disorders. The device contains sensors measuring multiple physiological parameters, including heart rate, respiratory information and gait data. This multimodal approach provides insight into a wearer\u2019s holistic health and enables earlier, faster and more accurate identification of disease exacerbations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Markvicka\u2019s wearable device will measure multiple physiological parameters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The current gold standard for COPD \u2013 patient-reported questionnaires \u2013 are burdensome and take days to establish a diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe goal is to create a wearable device for these patients that can be used as a medical diagnostic to detect acute exacerbations over the timespan of hours, as compared to days,\u201d said Markvicka, Robert F. and Myrna L. Krohn Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The framework can be applied to other chronic conditions characterized by flare-ups requiring timely treatment, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The goal is to create a wearable device for these patients that can be used as a medical diagnostic to detect acute exacerbations over the timespan of hours, as compared to days.”<\/p>\nEric Markvicka<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By capturing multiple types of data, the device is a major advance over existing wearables \u2013 most of which measure a single category. The technology also provides continuous, time-stamped data for each parameter, enabling researchers to explore the links between them and how variations in couplings may indicate health changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Markvicka\u2019s device, which would adhesively attach to the chest, is soft, low-profile and conforms to the body \u2013 a major improvement on bulky medical wearables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the technology could enable clinicians to monitor patients remotely, a major benefit for rural residents. The device will also help everyday people monitor their overall health and attune to early warning signs of illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of our big goals is to provide a complementary diagnostic tool that clinicians can use to support their decision-making and improve whole-person health,\u201d Markvicka said. \u201cOur human physiology undergoes subtle changes much earlier than clinically recognizable symptoms, providing a window for early intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A National Science Foundation-National Institutes of Health interagency initiative funds the research. Markvicka is collaborating with Stephen Rennard and Ran Dai from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Kate Cooper from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Jenna Yentes from Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additional Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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News release<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
KETV story<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Respiratory Therapy publication<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Biomedical<\/a>, <\/span>Breakthroughs<\/a>, <\/span>Discovery<\/a>, <\/span>Engineering<\/a>, <\/span>Eric Markvicka<\/a>, <\/span>Health<\/a>, <\/span>Health Care<\/a>, <\/span>Innovation<\/a>, <\/span>Jenna Yentes<\/a>, <\/span>Kate Cooper<\/a>, <\/span>National Institutes of Health<\/a>, <\/span>National Science Foundation<\/a>, <\/span>Partnerships<\/a>, <\/span>Ran Dai<\/a>, <\/span>Stephen Rennard<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A wearable device developed by Husker engineer Eric Markvicka may help patients with chronic conditions stay ahead of disease flare-ups, which is key to improved outcomes and reduced mortality. A multimodal approach provides insight into a wearer’s holistic health and enables earlier, faster and more accurate identification of disease exacerbations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12,182,185,166,167,23,107,186,171,170,32,39,53,169,168],"class_list":["post-18","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-achieving-excellence","tag-biomedical","tag-breakthroughs","tag-discovery","tag-engineering","tag-eric-markvicka","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-innovation","tag-jenna-yentes","tag-kate-cooper","tag-national-institutes-of-health","tag-national-science-foundation","tag-partnerships","tag-ran-dai","tag-stephen-rennard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions\/472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}