Abstract

Approximately 40 million adults in the United States (18% of the population) are affected by an anxiety disorder. Social stigmas and personal preference tend to discourage people with panic disorders from discussing anxiety and its symptoms with their peers. Compression, vibration, and heating/cooling therapy have each proven to help relieve anxiety symptoms during panic attacks. These three forms of therapy give patients the feeling of a warm hug to offer comfort and relieve symptoms of anxiety. There is no existing device that combines all three forms of therapy for this purpose. The Warm Hugs Therapy Device incorporates these treatments into a discrete vest that can be worn all day to provide therapy at any time. Pressure will be delivered using a system of cables and dials provided by Boa Technology. Specific pressure points on the mid and lower back will be targeted by the system. DC coin motors will be used to apply vibration across the mid and upper back. Additionally, Peltier devices will be implemented to provide heating and cooling in the upper back and chest regions. The Warm Hugs Therapy Device will have an easy manual pressure control and use a microcontroller to apply and control vibration and heating/cooling when desired.