SBIR Phase II: Automated Monitoring and Alarming for Elder Care

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将为居住在老年护理机构的居民开发一个自动化监测系统。该系统将使设施工作人员能够利用计算机视觉跟踪和行为分析，对任何需要干预的事件或行为做出快速反应，例如意外摔倒。之前的第一阶段研究通过一个实验室原型证明了这种方法用于跌倒检测和行为分析的可行性。这项工作还突出了几个挑战，例如如何应对不断变化的照明条件和复杂的行为。第二阶段的研究将集中于解决这些挑战，并在实际的老年护理设施中创建12个测试点，以进一步开发和测试算法。该项目的商业应用将针对与老年人护理有关的机构。由于50%以上的老年人居住在独立/辅助生活设施或养老院，无人看管的跌倒造成的伤亡是一个严重的社会和经济问题。每年有超过180万老年人摔倒，每次摔倒平均住院费用为9400美元。这项拟议的工作可能会带来一种解决方案，提供一种快速应对跌倒的方法，节省高达26%的住院费用，更重要的是，将死亡的可能性降低高达82%。这也将有助于在不大幅增加医疗费用的情况下，为老年人和他们的照顾者带来安全感。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop an automated monitoring system for residents living in elder care facilities. This system will enable the facility staff to quickly respond to any event or behavior requiring intervention, such as an accidental fall, using computer vision for tracking and behavior analysis. Prior Phase I research demonstrated the feasibility of this approach for fall detection and behavior analysis with the help of a laboratory prototype. This work also highlighted several challenges, such as dealing with changing lighting conditions and complex behaviors. Phase II research will focus on addressing these challenges and creating twelve beta sites in actual elder care facilities to further develop and test the algorithms. The commercial application of this project will be on institutions linked to the care of the elderly. With over 50% of the growing population of seniors staying in independent / assistive living facilities or nursing homes, injuries and deaths resulting from unattended falls represent a serious societal and economical problem. Over 1.8 million seniors fall each year, with each fall costing an average of $9,400 in hospitalization. The proposed work could lead to a solution that provides a way for quickly responding to falls, saving hospitalization costs up to 26% and more importantly, reducing the likelihood of death by as much as 82%. It would also help in generating a feeling of security for the elders and their care givers, without a substantial increase in healthcare costs.