An open platform for seamless sensor support in healthcare for the Internet of things

Population aging and increasing pressure on health systems are two issues that demand solutions. Involving and empowering citizens as active managers of their health represents a desirable shift from the current culture mainly focused on treatment of disease, to one also focused on continuous health management and well-being. Current developments in technological areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), lead to new technological solutions that can aid this shift in the healthcare sector. This study presents the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a platform called Common Recognition and Identification Platform (CRIP), a part of the CareStore project, which aims at supporting caregivers and citizens to manage health routines in a seamless way. Specifically, the CRIP offers sensor-based support for seamless identification of users and health devices. A set of initial requirements was defined with a focus on usability limitations and current sensor technologies. The CRIP was designed and implemented using several technologies that enable seamless integration and interaction of sensors and people, namely Near Field Communication and fingerprint biometrics for identification and authentication, Bluetooth for communication with health devices and web services for wider integration with other platforms. Two CRIP prototypes were implemented and evaluated in laboratory during a period of eight months. The evaluations consisted of identifying users and devices, as well as seamlessly configure and acquire vital data from the last. Also, the entire Carestore platform was deployed in a nursing home where its usability was evaluated with caregivers. The evaluations helped assess that seamless identification of users and seamless configuration and communication with health devices is feasible and can help enable the IoT on healthcare applications. Therefore, the CRIP and similar platforms could be transformed into a valuable enabling technology for secure and reliable IoT deployments on the healthcare sector.This research work was supported under the European Framework Program FP7 Research for the Benefit of SMEs, project FP7-SME-2012-315158-CareStore. The authors would also like to acknowledge the work of all the members of the CareStore team, without whom this work would not be possible

Evaluation of caregivers’ first time use of a seamless deployment platform

The CareStore project is investigating the feasibility of creating an open and flexible infrastructure for facilitating seamless deployment of healthcare devices and applications. Such seamless deployment is relevant in order to optimize work flows and save resources, but must deliver a calm user experience in order to be effective. This paper describes a study with the aim of investigating the user experience of non-technical care staffs' first time use of a technology platform designed for supporting seamless deployment of telemedicine and ambient assisted living equipment in care facilities. We invited eight caregivers working at an assisted living ward of a North German care facility, two nurses and six otherwise trained caregivers, to go through a realistic deployment and usage scenario. The specific objectives were to: i) evaluate the feasibility of the system during first time use, and ii) gain insights into the caregivers understanding and user experience of the technology. Results indicate that the caregivers could effectively use the touch-to-install deployment system to deploy a new healthcare device and carry through measurements with the device. Also, the nurses found the system effective and easy to use in a first time context, and were optimistic about future possibilities with the system. However, more work is needed to assess the longitudinal effects of this type of seamless deployment technology, including field studies of actual daily usage.EC - European Commission(315158)The CareStore Project is funded by the European Commission as part of the Seventh Framework Program. Grant agreement no. 315158. Thank you to the eight participating caregivers and the management of SSRG, as well as to the other CareStore consortium partners.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio