Fall Prediction and Prevention Systems: Recent Trends, Challenges, and Future Research Directions.

Fall prediction is a multifaceted problem that involves complex interactions between physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Existing fall detection and prediction systems mainly focus on physiological factors such as gait, vision, and cognition, and do not address the multifactorial nature of falls. In addition, these systems lack efficient user interfaces and feedback for preventing future falls. Recent advances in internet of things (IoT) and mobile technologies offer ample opportunities for integrating contextual information about patient behavior and environment along with physiological health data for predicting falls. This article reviews the state-of-the-art in fall detection and prediction systems. It also describes the challenges, limitations, and future directions in the design and implementation of effective fall prediction and prevention systems

Wireless body sensor networks for health-monitoring applications

This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Physiological Measurement. The publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0967-3334/29/11/R01

State of the art of audio- and video based solutions for AAL

Working Group 3. Audio- and Video-based AAL ApplicationsIt is a matter of fact that Europe is facing more and more crucial challenges regarding health and social care due to the demographic change and the current economic context. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has stressed this situation even further, thus highlighting the need for taking action. Active and Assisted Living (AAL) technologies come as a viable approach to help facing these challenges, thanks to the high potential they have in enabling remote care and support. Broadly speaking, AAL can be referred to as the use of innovative and advanced Information and Communication Technologies to create supportive, inclusive and empowering applications and environments that enable older, impaired or frail people to live independently and stay active longer in society. AAL capitalizes on the growing pervasiveness and effectiveness of sensing and computing facilities to supply the persons in need with smart assistance, by responding to their necessities of autonomy, independence, comfort, security and safety. The application scenarios addressed by AAL are complex, due to the inherent heterogeneity of the end-user population, their living arrangements, and their physical conditions or impairment. Despite aiming at diverse goals, AAL systems should share some common characteristics. They are designed to provide support in daily life in an invisible, unobtrusive and user-friendly manner. Moreover, they are conceived to be intelligent, to be able to learn and adapt to the requirements and requests of the assisted people, and to synchronise with their specific needs. Nevertheless, to ensure the uptake of AAL in society, potential users must be willing to use AAL applications and to integrate them in their daily environments and lives. In this respect, video- and audio-based AAL applications have several advantages, in terms of unobtrusiveness and information richness. Indeed, cameras and microphones are far less obtrusive with respect to the hindrance other wearable sensors may cause to one’s activities. In addition, a single camera placed in a room can record most of the activities performed in the room, thus replacing many other non-visual sensors. Currently, video-based applications are effective in recognising and monitoring the activities, the movements, and the overall conditions of the assisted individuals as well as to assess their vital parameters (e.g., heart rate, respiratory rate). Similarly, audio sensors have the potential to become one of the most important modalities for interaction with AAL systems, as they can have a large range of sensing, do not require physical presence at a particular location and are physically intangible. Moreover, relevant information about individuals’ activities and health status can derive from processing audio signals (e.g., speech recordings). Nevertheless, as the other side of the coin, cameras and microphones are often perceived as the most intrusive technologies from the viewpoint of the privacy of the monitored individuals. This is due to the richness of the information these technologies convey and the intimate setting where they may be deployed. Solutions able to ensure privacy preservation by context and by design, as well as to ensure high legal and ethical standards are in high demand. After the review of the current state of play and the discussion in GoodBrother, we may claim that the first solutions in this direction are starting to appear in the literature. A multidisciplinary 4 debate among experts and stakeholders is paving the way towards AAL ensuring ergonomics, usability, acceptance and privacy preservation. The DIANA, PAAL, and VisuAAL projects are examples of this fresh approach. This report provides the reader with a review of the most recent advances in audio- and video-based monitoring technologies for AAL. It has been drafted as a collective effort of WG3 to supply an introduction to AAL, its evolution over time and its main functional and technological underpinnings. In this respect, the report contributes to the field with the outline of a new generation of ethical-aware AAL technologies and a proposal for a novel comprehensive taxonomy of AAL systems and applications. Moreover, the report allows non-technical readers to gather an overview of the main components of an AAL system and how these function and interact with the end-users. The report illustrates the state of the art of the most successful AAL applications and functions based on audio and video data, namely (i) lifelogging and self-monitoring, (ii) remote monitoring of vital signs, (iii) emotional state recognition, (iv) food intake monitoring, activity and behaviour recognition, (v) activity and personal assistance, (vi) gesture recognition, (vii) fall detection and prevention, (viii) mobility assessment and frailty recognition, and (ix) cognitive and motor rehabilitation. For these application scenarios, the report illustrates the state of play in terms of scientific advances, available products and research project. The open challenges are also highlighted. The report ends with an overview of the challenges, the hindrances and the opportunities posed by the uptake in real world settings of AAL technologies. In this respect, the report illustrates the current procedural and technological approaches to cope with acceptability, usability and trust in the AAL technology, by surveying strategies and approaches to co-design, to privacy preservation in video and audio data, to transparency and explainability in data processing, and to data transmission and communication. User acceptance and ethical considerations are also debated. Finally, the potentials coming from the silver economy are overviewed.publishedVersio

Wearable Wireless Devices

No abstract available

Wearable Wireless Devices

No abstract available

Enhanced Living Environments

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1303 “Algorithms, Architectures and Platforms for Enhanced Living Environments (AAPELE)”. The concept of Enhanced Living Environments (ELE) refers to the area of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) that is more related with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Effective ELE solutions require appropriate ICT algorithms, architectures, platforms, and systems, having in view the advance of science and technology in this area and the development of new and innovative solutions that can provide improvements in the quality of life for people in their homes and can reduce the financial burden on the budgets of the healthcare providers. The aim of this book is to become a state-of-the-art reference, discussing progress made, as well as prompting future directions on theories, practices, standards, and strategies related to the ELE area. The book contains 12 chapters and can serve as a valuable reference for undergraduate students, post-graduate students, educators, faculty members, researchers, engineers, medical doctors, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, and research strategists working in this area

Conception and evaluation of a washable multimodal smart textile

Smart textiles can support people with specific needs and diseases, such as diabetes or heart disease. Currently there are efforts to combine continuous mobile monitoring with other health-related conditions. On this basis, algorithms could be developed that can be used to detect unusual or critical conditions. A study was to investigate whether a previously developed washable Multi-Modal Smart Textile (MMST), based on inexpensive materials, would provide valid and reliable results with regard to the vital parameters of pulse, temperature and mobility. The measurement of the vital parameters was carried out with the developed prototype MMST as well as with validated devices. All electronics including the rechargeable NiMH has been washed more than 30 times with different methods and it remained fully functional. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for pulse (temperature) measurement ranged between 0.036 and 0.232 (0.077 and 0.817) depending on the activity of the tested individuals (standing, sitting, lying down, moving). Cohen's Kappa for the detection of the body position was 0.765. For the parameter of pulse, the results indicated an insufficient derivation for both validity and reliability. Due to flaws in the methodology applied, the validly and reliably for the parameter of temperature could not be determined. Valid and reliable results were obtained for the parameter mobility/change of position. If the MMST (after modification of the prototype) achieves reliable results, there are many advantages for people giving and receiving care on a budget price, even in threatening emergency situations

Sensores de fibra ótica para arquiteturas e-Health

In this work, optical fiber sensors were developed and optimized for biomedical applications in wearable and non-intrusive and/or invisible solutions. As it was intended that the developed devices would not interfere with the user's movements and their daily life, the fibre optic sensors presented several advantages when compared to conventional electronic sensors, among others, the following stand out: size and reduced weight, biocompatibility, safety, immunity to electromagnetic interference and high sensitivity. In a first step, wearable devices with fibre optic sensors based in Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) were developed to be incorporated into insoles to monitor different walking parameters based on the analysis of the pressure exerted on several areas of the insole. Still within this theme, other sensors were developed using the same sensing technology, but capable of monitoring pressure and shear forces simultaneously. This work was pioneering and allowed monitoring one of the main causes of foot ulceration in people with diabetes: shear. At a later stage, the study focused on the issue related with the appearance of ulcers in people with reduced mobility and wheelchair users. In order to contribute to the mitigation of this scourge, a system was developed composed of a network of fibre optic sensors capable of monitoring the pressure at various points of the wheelchair. It not only measures the pressure at each point, but also monitors the posture of the wheelchair user and advises him/her to change posture regularly to reduce the probability of this pathology occurring. Still within this application, another work was developed where the sensor not only monitored the pressure but also the temperature in each of the analysis points, thus indirectly measuring shear. In another phase, plastic fibre optic sensors were studied and developed to monitor the body posture of an office chair user. Simultaneously, software was developed capable of monitoring and showing the user all the acquired data in real time and warning for incorrect postures, as well as advising for work breaks. In a fourth phase, the study focused on the development of highly sensitive sensors embedded in materials printed by a 3D printer. The sensor was composed of an optical fibre with a FBG and the sensor body of a flexible polymeric material called "Flexible". This material was printed on a 3D printer and during its printing the optical fibre was incorporated. The sensor proved to be highly sensitive and was able to monitor respiratory and cardiac rate, both in wearable solutions (chest and wrist) and in "invisible" solutions (office chair).Neste trabalho foram desenvolvidos e otimizados sensores em fibra ótica para aplicações biomédicas em soluções vestíveis e não intrusivas/ou invisíveis. Tendo em conta que se pretende que os dispositivos desenvolvidos não interfiram com os movimentos e o dia-a-dia do utilizador, os sensores de fibra ótica apresentam inúmeras vantagens quando comparados com os sensores eletrónicos convencionais, de entre várias, destacam-se: tamanho e peso reduzido, biocompatibilidade, segurança, imunidade a interferências eletromagnéticas e elevada sensibilidade. Numa primeira etapa, foram desenvolvidos dispositivos vestíveis com sensores de fibra ótica baseados em redes de Bragg (FBG) para incorporar em palmilhas de modo a monitorizar diferentes parâmetros da marcha com base na análise da pressão exercida em várias zonas da palmilha. Ainda no âmbito deste tema, adicionalmente, foram desenvolvidos sensores utilizando a mesma tecnologia de sensoriamento, mas capazes de monitorizar simultaneamente pressão e forças de cisalhamento. Este trabalho foi pioneiro e permitiu monitorizar um dos principais responsáveis pela ulceração dos pés em pessoas com diabetes: o cisalhamento. Numa fase posterior, o estudo centrou-se na temática relacionada com o aparecimento de úlceras em pessoas com mobilidade reduzida e utilizadores de cadeiras de rodas. De modo a contribuir para a mitigação deste flagelo, procurou-se desenvolver um sistema composto por uma rede de sensores de fibra ótica capaz de monitorizar a pressão em vários pontos de uma cadeira de rodas e não só aferir a pressão em cada ponto, mas monitorizar a postura do cadeirante e aconselhá-lo a mudar de postura com regularidade, de modo a diminuir a probabilidade de ocorrência desta patologia. Ainda dentro desta aplicação, foi publicado um outro trabalho onde o sensor não só monitoriza a pressão como também a temperatura em cada um dos pontos de análise, conseguindo aferir assim indiretamente o cisalhamento. Numa outra fase, foi realizado o estudo e desenvolvimento de sensores de fibra ótica de plástico para monitorizar a postura corporal de um utilizador de uma cadeira de escritório. Simultaneamente, foi desenvolvido um software capaz de monitorizar e mostrar ao utilizador todos os dados adquiridos em tempo real e advertir o utilizador de posturas incorretas, bem como aconselhar para pausas no trabalho. Numa quarta fase, o estudo centrou-se no desenvolvimento de sensores altamente sensíveis embebidos em materiais impressos 3D. O sensor é composto por uma fibra ótica com uma FBG e o corpo do sensor por um material polimérico flexível, denominado “Flexible”. O sensor foi impresso numa impressora 3D e durante a sua impressão foi incorporada a fibra ótica. O sensor demonstrou ser altamente sensível e foi capaz de monitorizar frequência respiratória e cardíaca, tanto em soluções vestíveis (peito e pulso) como em soluções “invisíveis” (cadeira de escritório).Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Físic

Technology applications

A summary of NASA Technology Utilization programs for the period of 1 December 1971 through 31 May 1972 is presented. An abbreviated description of the overall Technology Utilization Applications Program is provided as a background for the specific applications examples. Subjects discussed are in the broad headings of: (1) cancer, (2) cardiovascular disease, (2) medical instrumentation, (4) urinary system disorders, (5) rehabilitation medicine, (6) air and water pollution, (7) housing and urban construction, (8) fire safety, (9) law enforcement and criminalistics, (10) transportation, and (11) mine safety

Strategic Intelligence Monitor on Personal Health Systems (SIMPHS): Report on Typology/Segmentation of the PHS Market

This market segmentation reports for Personal Health Systems (PHS) describes the methodological background and illustrates the principles of classification and typology regarding different fragments forming this market. It discusses different aspects of the market for PHS and highlights challenges towards a stringent and clear-cut typology or defining market segmentation. Based on these findings a preliminary hybrid typology and indications and insights are created in order to be used in the continuation of the SIMPHS project. It concludes with an annex containing examples and cases studies.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ