Wearable Wireless Sensors to Monitor Aging Population

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Koronis Biomedical Technologies (KBT) proposes to develop a low-power wireless system for connecting miniature wearable sensors for continuous automatic data collection in a home setting. The proposed system will be a valuable tool for researchers/clinicians and has the potential to provide early diagnosis of changes in the aging process for clinicians. There is a significant need for minimally-invasive, non-intrusive, wearable, and cost-effective devices that can be integrated into the daily lives of the elderly. Existing measures for age-related changes and processes have a number of limitations. For example, patient questionnaires require the participant to self-report information that is highly subjective. Other technologies require the patient to perform or comply with rigid testing procedures. Yet other technologies only collect a single point of data or require invasive procedures. There is a need for sensor technology which requires little participation by the patient and provides continuous, real-time data collection. Such sensor technology would provide researchers and clinicians vital information as to the variations and rates of changes in physiological parameters during the slow progression of the aging process. This data could also be utilized in understanding and modeling health and age-related events/episodes. In this Phase II, KBT will develop an Internet based system to monitor Parkinson patients in their homes using a set of wireless sensors attached to the body to capture movement. This Internet based system will provide videoconferencing capability, remote access to data recorded from the sensors using a web-enabled smartphone, and software to analyze data recorded.