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Device to help severely mentally ill patients to quit smoking

Project Overview

A major issue with mental health patients that is often improperly acknowledged is tobacco and/or drug addiction. The rate of cigarette smoking is much higher among people with severe mental illnesses than that of the general populace [1]; 45%-90% in the severely mentally ill (SMI) as opposed to only 20% in the general populace (2). As a result of the higher rate of smoking in the mentally ill, additional help and guidance may be necessary to aid these patients in quitting particularly since smokers with severe mental illnesses often do not use traditional additional resources to quit smoking.

The project consists of fabricating a case for holding cigarettes that is augmented to specifically help the SMI patients to quit smoking. The case will always be locked. When the user attempts to access the case it will open only after a specified time delay. The case will house a sensor to detect if the user attempts to open the case, another sensor to detect whether the case was actually opened and a third sensor will be used to detect how many cigarettes were removed from the case. The data from access attempts will be continuously transmitted wirelessly to a smart phone. The phone will analyze this data on access attempts. Each time the user accesses the case, the phone application will deploy countermeasures to discourage smoking behavior (display picture of smoke damaged lung, post on social media, call friends or family). In addition, the application will send weekly updates to the subject and to any mentor the subject specifies.

Team Picture

Team members from left to right: (Seyed Sadeghi, Zach Balsiger, Zach Vargas, Scott Carson)
Team members from left to right: (Seyed Sadeghi, Zach Balsiger, Zach Vargas, Scott Carson)

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Contact Information

Team Members

  • Robert Carson - Team Leader
  • Gustavo Vargas - Communicator
  • Zachary Balsiger - BSAC
  • Seyed Sadeghi - BWIG

Advisor and Client

  • Prof. Amit Nimunkar - Advisor
  • Prof. David Gustafson - Client
  • Prof. Amit Nimunkar - Alternate Contact

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