SBIR Phase I: Advanced Tracking Device for Patients with Cognitive Impairments

这项小型企业创新研究的第一阶段研究开发了技术，以满足为认知和身体障碍患者提供服务的家庭和机构对监测和跟踪患者的日益增长的需求。徘徊是痴呆症患者的常见问题。这项研究扩展了现有的系统技术，提供覆盖面积超过0.5平方英里的监测和跟踪。这将通过整合伪多普勒天线阵列和直接序列扩频（DSSS）技术来实现，以大大提高现有定向天线/数字罗盘技术的范围和精度。这项研究的更广泛影响将是提供技术，取代痴呆症或认知障碍患者护理人员的人类监督，从而减轻卫生保健提供者和家庭的负担，提高患者的生活质量。

This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I research develops technologies to address the increased demands on both families of and institutions serving patients with cognitive and physical impairments to monitor and track patients. Wandering is a common problem in people with dementia. This research expands exisiting system technology to provide monitoring and tracking that covers an area over 0.5 square miles. This will be done by integrating pseudo-Doppler antenna array and direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technologies to greatly enhance the range and accuracy of the present Directional Antenna /Digital Compass based technology. The broader impacts of this research will be to provide technologies that replace human supervision of caregivers of patients with dementia or cognitive impairment, thereby reducing the burden on health care providers and family and improving the quality of life of the patient.