Position tracking and mobility assessment system for indoor monitoring of elders

该项目的目标是开发和评估一种位置跟踪和移动性评估系统，使老年人能够在家中或辅助生活设施中活得更长，更安全。运动能力是老年人生活质量的重要组成部分。活动性的变化，如步行速度，已被证明与身体和认知功能的变化相关，并可以预测未来的认知和身体衰退。位置跟踪和移动性信息可以进一步用于估计临床相关的日常生活活动，这在评估患者健康方面是有用的。 EmbedRF在第二阶段的目标是继续研究和开发一种名为MobileRF的新的位置跟踪和移动性评估系统。这个系统将是低成本，准确，不显眼，易于安装。在第一阶段，设计和制造了初步的原型硬件，这使我们能够通过以下方式满足并超越我们的特定目标：（1）证明MobileRF系统的可行性，以使用身体佩戴的标签以亚米精度有效地跟踪生活空间内的一个或多个人的运动，以及（2）证明了在2-3米精度下无标签跟踪的可行性，而不需要个人佩戴标签。该系统由多个无线接入点（AP）组成，位于整个家庭中，一个（可选）个人佩戴的小型无线标签，一个集线器，用于聚合信息并执行位置跟踪和移动性评估，以及一个信息系统，用于在健康状态发生变化时通知朋友，家人和医疗保健提供者。这种新颖的无标签方法使用AP来评估人们在家中自由走动时射频（RF）信号的中断。在被动定位期间，系统还将确定步行速度、活动水平，并通过检测是否存在多个人来评估社交互动。对于更高级别的准确性，可以佩戴使用飞行时间无线电收发器、惯性传感器（3轴加速度计和陀螺仪）和专有贝叶斯跟踪算法的标签，以提供准确的亚米级定位和精细级别的3D移动和移动性评估。 在第二阶段，我们计划在第一阶段取得成功的基础上，为无标签和基于标签的跟踪系统添加几个新的传感器和功能，这将大大提高我们的监测准确性，完成最终原型，并在20名老年人的家中评估该系统。MobileRF将面向（1）老年独立生活社区，（2）辅助护理机构，（3）在临床试验期间监测活动性以评估 药物、外科手术和其他老年人疾病治疗的有效性，以及（4）提供患者跟踪和健康监测并希望获得MobileRF技术许可以提高其当前产品的准确性和功能性的公司。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate a position tracking and mobility assessment system that will enable the elderly to live longer and more safely at home or in an assisted living facility. The ability to move is a critical function tat underlies the quality of life for the elderly. Changes in mobility such as speed of walking have been shown to correlate with changes in physical and cognitive function, and can predict future cognitive and physical decline. Positional tracking and mobility information can be further used to estimate clinically relevant activities of daily living, which are useful in assessing patient health. EmbedRF's objective in phase 2 is to continue research and development towards the commercialization of a new position tracking and mobility assessment system called MobileRF. This system will be low-cost, accurate, unobtrusive, and easy-to-install. In phase 1, preliminary prototype hardware was designed and fabricated, which enabled us to meet and exceed our specific aims by (1) demonstrating feasibility of the MobileRF system to effectively track one or more people's movement within a living space at sub-meter accuracy using a body-worn tag, and (2) demonstrating feasibility of tag-free tracking at 2-3 meter accuracy without requiring the individual to wear a tag. The system consists of multiple wireless access points (APs) positioned throughout the home, an (optional) small wireless tag worn by the individual, a hub that aggregates the information and performs the position tracking and mobility assessment, and an information system used to notify friends, family, and health care providers when a change in health status has occurred. The novel tag-free approach uses the APs to evaluate disruptions in radio frequency (RF) signals as a person walks freely throughout their home. During passive localization, the system will also determine walking speed, activity level, and assess social interaction by detecting if multiple people are present. For even higher levels of accuracy, a tag may be worn that uses time-of-flight wireless radio transceivers, inertial sensors (3-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes), and proprietary Bayesian tracking algorithms, to provide accurate sub-meter localization and fine level 3D movement and mobility assessment. In phase 2, we plan to build on the success achieved in phase 1 by adding several new sensors and features to the tag-free and tag-based tracking systems that will significantly improve our monitoring accuracy, completing the final prototype, and evaluating the system in the homes of 20 seniors. MobileRF will be marketed to (1) the senior independent living community, (2) assisted care facilities, (3) researchers who monitor mobility during clinical trials for assessing the effectiveness of drugs, surgical procedures, and other treatments for illness in older people, and (4) companies who provide patient tracking and health monitoring and want to license MobileRF technology to improve the accuracy and functionality of their current product offering.