Michelle Khine, Amir Rahmani, and Bernard Choi receive federal funding to build a smart, wearable device capable of detecting life-threatening blood loss before it becomes fatal, with a critical focus on real-time monitoring in the operating room.

Drs. Michelle Khine and Bernard Choi of UC Irvine Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic and Dr. Amir Rahmani of the School of Nursing have been awarded a two-year $408,504 grant from the National Institute on Aging to develop a groundbreaking wearable patch that can monitor a patient’s blood flow and detect dangerous bleeding in real time, especially in the operating room on patients at high risk for hemorrhage.

Trauma is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with a significant portion of those deaths caused by severe bleeding, or hemorrhage. Hemorrhagic shock is especially deadly, as the warning signs are often subtle and go undetected until a patient is already in critical condition.

Current monitoring tools in hospitals, operating rooms, and emergency settings are often bulky, invasive, or unable to catch early warning signs. The problem is compounded by racial disparities in trauma outcomes, where patients may receive delayed or less accurate care, as existing monitoring technologies do not perform equally well across all skin tones.

To address these challenges, Drs. Khine, Rahmani, and Choi are developing a novel, integrated, wearable hemodynamic platform designed for the early detection and management of hemorrhage. The device combines miniaturized sensor technologies, including Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), laser speckle imaging, and diffuse optical spectroscopy. By integrating these technologies with machine learning algorithms, the patch can continuously monitor vital signs and blood flow, enabling faster and more accurate interventions.

“By developing a wearable technology that monitors vital signs and predicts the risk of bleeding – a preventable factor in many cases – our goal is to make early detection and intervention possible, potentially saving millions of lives,” said Bernard Choi, interim director of the Institute.

The project will advance in three major phases. First, the patch will undergo lab validation to confirm that the device can accurately track vital signs and blood loss indicators. Researchers will then build and refine a machine learning model using the data collected to identify early warning patterns. Finally, the device will be tested on patients in an operating room setting, particularly those at high risk for bleeding during or after surgery.

If successful, the technology could transform trauma care by providing a reliable, non-invasive, and comprehensive monitoring system capable of detecting hemorrhage at its earliest stages. By improving the speed and accuracy of medical interventions in the operating room and across care settings, this technology has the potential to save lives and advance emergency and trauma medicine.

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Author: Gabrielle Comfort