EPSRC IRC 'SPHERE' - a Sensor Platform for HEalthcare in a Residential Environment

英国的医疗体系面临着前所未有的挑战。我们是欧洲最肥胖的国家，我们的老龄化人口特别容易受到孤立、抑郁、中风和家中福尔斯摔倒造成的骨折的威胁。英国的医疗支出已经非常可观，很难想象NHS的预算会增加，以满足英国人口的未来需求。NHS工作人员面临着特别的压力，要求他们在手术后尽早出院，以减少住院天数。然而，这不可避免地增加了患者在回家时面临术后并发症的风险。事实上，自1998年以来，医院的再入院率增长了20%。许多人指望技术来缓解这些问题--2011年，卫生部长声称，80%的与NHS的面对面互动是不必要的。例如，SPHERE设想的传感器：1）使用视频和运动分析来预测福尔斯和检测中风，以便提供帮助。2）使用视频传感来分析饮食行为，包括人们是否服用处方药。3）使用视频来检测抑郁或焦虑的时期，并使用基于计算机的治疗进行干预。SPHERE IRC将采取跨学科的方法来开发这些传感器技术，以便：（1）在人们的家中是可以接受的（这将通过组建用户组来实现，以协助技术设计过程，以及道德和用户参与方面的专家，他们将探索隐私和数字包容性问题。2）他们以具有成本效益的方式解决真实的医疗保健问题（这将通过与心脏外科、骨科、中风和帕金森病领域的领先临床医生合作来实现，和公认的权威抑郁症和肥胖症）。3）IRC产生的知识，将改变临床实践（这将通过关注现实世界的技术来实现，这些技术可以在项目的生命周期内在大量的当地家庭中发挥作用）。从第一天起，该提案就与来自国际公认机构的临床医生、社会工作者和临床科学家一起制定，这些机构包括布里斯托心脏研究所、南安普顿康复和健康技术集团、NIHR营养、饮食和生活方式生物医学研究单位以及布里斯托Southmead医院的矫形外科集团。该提案还包括一个在“智能城市”领域处于英国领先地位的地方当局（布里斯托市理事会）、一个在社区技术试点方面有着令人印象深刻的记录的地方慈善机构（诺勒西媒体中心）和一项独特的纵向研究（世界著名的雅芳家长和儿童纵向研究（ALSPAC），又名《九十年代的孩子》（The Children of the Ninety）SPHERE借鉴了英国在通信、机器视觉、控制论、数据挖掘和能源收集方面的领先团队以及两家在研究和开发方面享有世界级声誉的公司（IBM、东芝）的专业知识。

The UK's healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges. We are the most obese nation in Europe and our ageing population is especially at risk from isolation, depression, strokes and fractures caused by falls in the home. UK health expenditure is already very substantial and it is difficult to imagine the NHS budget rising to meet the future needs of the UK's population. NHS staff are under particular pressure to reduce hospital bed-days by achieving earlier discharge after surgery. However this inevitably increases the risk that patients face post operative complications on returning home. Hospital readmission rates have in fact grown 20% since 1998.Many look to technology to mitigate these problems - in 2011 the Health Minister asserted that 80% of face-to-face interactions with the NHS are unnecessary. SPHERE envisages sensors, for example:1) That employ video and motion analytics to predict falls and detect strokes so that help may be summoned.2) That uses video sensing to analyse eating behaviour, including whether people are taking their prescribed medication.3) That uses video to detect periods of depression or anxiety and intervene using a computer-based therapy.The SPHERE IRC will take a interdisciplinary approach to developing these sensor technologies, in order that:1) They are acceptable in people's homes (this will be achieved by forming User Groups to assist in the technology design process, as well as experts in Ethics and User-Involvement who will explore issues of privacy and digital inclusion).2) They solve real healthcare problems in a cost-effective way (this will be achieved by working with leading clinicians in Heart Surgery, Orthopaedics, Stroke and Parkinson's Disease, and recognised authorities on Depression and Obesity).3) The IRC generates knowledge that will change clinical practice (this will be achieved by focusing on real-world technologies that can be shown working in a large number of local homes during the life of the project).The IRC "SPHERE" proposal has been developed from day one with clinicians, social workers and clinical scientists from internationally-recognised institutes including the Bristol Heart Institute, Southampton's Rehabilitation and Health Technologies Group, the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle and the Orthopaedic Surgery Group at Southmead hospital in Bristol. This proposal further includes a local authority that is a UK leader in the field of "Smart Cities" (Bristol City Council), a local charity with an impressive track record of community-based technology pilots (Knowle West Media Centre) and a unique longitudinal study (the world-renowned Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a.k.a. "The Children of the Nineties"). SPHERE draws upon expertise from the UK's leading groups in Communications, Machine Vision, Cybernetics, Data Mining and Energy Harvesting, and from two corporations with world-class reputations for research and development (IBM, Toshiba).