UV Exposure Assessed With Wearable Sensor and Sun Protection

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: The goal is to prevent ultraviolet light (UV) overexposure by providing consumers with relevant, easy-to-access, specifically actionable information. This research proposal will develop a UV protection system consisting of an automated real-time counseling framework and a personal dosimeter that overcomes barriers to consumer adoption. These new, wearable sensors take the form of small (\< 1 cm), thin (\<0.1 mm), lightweight (\<0.1 g), battery-free "stickers" that are fundamentally differentiated from other wearable electronics in their modes of use, cost structures and accuracy.

Detailed Description: The proposed work is to refine and validate a UV protection system based on a dosimeter "sticker." The key innovations of the system are automated personalized intervention messaging triggered by the exposure levels measured by a novel charge accumulation device applied to ultraminiaturized circuit forms. The research will validate the system's accuracy and acceptability to users, refine the device, and prove its robustness and efficacy in real world use cases. Focus groups and structured interviews will develop sun protection strategies to be communicated by text messages to participants. Successful completion of the research will yield a system to prevent excessive UV exposure and sunburn, thus reducing the incidence of skin cancer by equipping large numbers of general-population consumers and at-risk people to practice digitally-informed healthy sun behavior.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

history of Stage 0 to IIB melanoma treated within the last five years, age 18-70 years old
have a smartphone
familiarity with use of mobile apps
have skin type 1-3
willing to wear the sensor and able to transmit data which requires Wi-Fi in the home
Come to the Chicago campus of the medical school

Exclusion Criteria

Cohort Study 2: Young adults with sun sensitive skin

Inclusion Criteria:

history of sun sensitive skin, skin type 1-3
have a smartphone and willing to use the UV guard application on the smartphone
reliable wireless internet connection to complete daily surveys
willing to wear the sensor for 28 days and transmit data and complete daily surveys
willing to receive SMS text messages on their personal phone and potentially sync sensor to personal phone using Bluetooth
If weather permits, person will spend at least one hour outdoors each day, with at least 30 minutes of that hour being consecutive between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM

Exclusion Criteria:

unable to speak English
lacking a secure Internet connection or very little experience with smartphones and mobile applications .
unable to walk inside and outside independently
unable to be outdoors for at least one hour each day (weather permitting)
unable to be outdoors for 30 consecutive minutes a day between 8 AM and 5 PM.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Acceptability of Wearing UV Sensor and Receiving Text Messages	cohort study 1 (arms 1 and 2) at end of 21 days, cohort study 2 (only one arm) at end of 28 days	Online system usability 6 item scale (Likert 7 items range from strongly disagree to strongly agree Minimum value 6, maximum value 42, higher score better outcome

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sun Exposure in Participants With Structured vs Unstructured Goal Setting	21 days	Change in daily UV exposure recorded by UV sensor (J/m\^2/day) between period prior to and after goal setting among melanoma survivors

Locations (1): Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Dermatology
🇺🇸
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Dermatology
🇺🇸Chicago, Illinois, United States