Portable Device for Telecare Monitoring of Elderly People

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目将开发并商业化一种基于人体固定传感器技术的新型老年人护理门诊系统。所提出的技术集成了三个关键特征和功能，这对老年人护理和监测身心健康状态具有重要意义：1）长期身体活动监测，2）跌倒风险的客观评估，3）自动跌倒检测。该系统使用精确的机电传感器来测量身体运动。将开发单模块便携式运动传感器，以在日常生活中附接到受试者的上身，而不妨碍受试者的身体活动。一套算法将开发基于一种新的生物力学模型的人体运动，并将被纳入软件的记录身体运动数据的后处理。此外，该软件将为数据传输、分析和最后评估报告的生成提供一个用户友好的界面。将通过一系列临床试验评价申报器械的性能。在商业化过程中，将开发一种基于网络的服务，用于从医疗中心、保健提供者和疗养院以及个人保健提供者无线传输数据。还将进行进一步的临床评价，以提高拟议技术的灵敏度和特异性。这项技术可用于监测老年人的健康状况，以及不同的医疗和外科手术对提高他们生活质量的影响。此外，通过向老年人和他们的护理人员提供反馈，系统客观地监测跌倒风险的能力可用于预防福尔斯和跌倒相关的伤害，这是老年人中最常见和最昂贵的健康问题之一。所提出的技术还提供了一种用于自动实时检测福尔斯的独特方法，因此在急救护理以及临床研究中具有意义。所提出的独特技术可以为老年人护理提供独特的解决方案，并为独立生活提供可靠和强大的工具，因此可以显著影响西方世界国家的医疗保健成本。公共卫生相关性：该项目的直接成果是一种设备，它可以监测人的身体活动，并提供对身体姿势和与姿势变化相关的参数的准确评估。该设备使用这些参数来提供对跌倒风险的高度准确和客观的评估，以防止福尔斯和跌倒相关伤害。该设备的附加特征允许自动跌倒检测。在更广泛的背景下，申报产品/系统可用于监测和记录人们日常生活中的身体活动，用于各种应用，例如评估生活质量，评估药物和康复干预的效果，并为老年人护理和鼓励独立生活提供独特的解决方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will develop and commercialize a novel ambulatory system for elderly care based on the body-fixed-sensor technology. The proposed technology integrates three key features and capabilities which are of significant importance for elderly care and monitoring the state of mental and physical health; 1) long-term physical activity monitoring, 2) objective assessment of risk of falling, 3) Automatic fall detection. The system uses accurate electro-mechanical sensors to measure body motion. A single- module portable kinematic sensor will be developed to be attached to the subject's upper body during every day life without hindering the subject's physical activity. A set of algorithms will be developed based on a novel biomechanical model human movement and will be incorporated in software for post-processing of the recorded body-motion data. In addition, the software will provide a user-friendly interface for data transfer, analysis and the generation of the final assessment report. The capabilities of the proposed device will be evaluated by a set of clinical trials. During commercialization, a web-based service will be developed for wireless transferring the data from medical centers, health-care providers and nursing homes as well as individual health givers. Further clinical evaluation will be also performed to increase the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed technology. The developed technology can be used for monitoring the state of health in elderly, as well as the effect of different medical and surgical procedures in enhancing their quality of life. In addition, the capability of the system to objectively monitor the risk of falling can be used for prevention of falls and fall-related injuries, which are one of the most common and costliest health problems among the elderly, by providing feedback to both elderly people and their care givers. The proposed technology also provides a unique method for automatic real-time detection of falls and therefore has implication in emergency care, as well as clinical studies. The unique technology proposed can provide a unique solution for elderly care and a reliable and robust tool for independent living and thus, can significantly impact the health-care costs of western world countries. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The direct outcome of this project is a device which monitors the physical activity of a person and provides an accurate assessment of the body posture and parameters associated with posture change. The device uses these parameters to provide a highly accurate and objective assessment of the risk of falling, in order to prevent falls and fall-related injuries. An additional feature of the device allows for automatic fall detection. In a broader context, the proposed product/system can be used to monitor and record the physical activity of people during every day life for various applications, such as assessment of quality of life, and evaluation of the effect of drugs and rehabilitative intervention and provides a unique solution for elderly-care and encouragement of independent living.