Monitoring Mom - As population matures, so do assisted-living technologies
From: Technology Review - July/August 2003 - page 22
By: Gregory T. Huang

Eric Dishman is making a cup of tea - and his kitchen knows it. At Intel's
Proactive Health Research lab in Hilsboro, OR, tiny sensors monitor the
researchers every move. Radio trequency icientitication tags and magnetic
sensors discreetly affixed to mugs, a tea jar, and a kettle, plus switches
that tell when cabinet doors are open or closed, track each tea-making step.
A nearby computer makes sense of these signals; if Dishman pauses for too
long, video clips on a television prompt him with what to do next. 

It's all part of a growing effort at Intel and other labs around the country
to develop ways to help the elderly, and others who need assistance with
everyday activities. Similar systems are in the works to monitor eating,
sleeping, and medication habits in order to allow older people to live
independently for longer. Researchers are even working on systems that
analyze changes in behavioral patterns over time to provide early warning of
aging diseases such as Alzheimer's. 

High-tech systems to monitor and assist the elderly are now becoming
practical, thanks to the falling prices of sensors and processors,
increasingly sophisticated software, and the wide availability of high-speed
Internet access. They are also becoming increasingly attractive as a
business; in the United States alone, the number of people over age 65 is
expected to hit 70 million by 2030, doubling from 35 million in 2000, and
similar increases are expected worldwide. "Youve got many large technology
companies like Intel suddenly noticing the aging demographics and asking,
How will our future products fit into this space?" says Dishman, who heads
an Intel-led research consortium formed last year to develop monitoring
technologies. 

One of the simplest, nearer-term systems is under development by Honeywell
Laboratories in Minneapolis, MN. The company is testing a home monitor for
the elderly in seven assisted-living facilities in Minnesota and four homes
in Florida. The Honeywell system starts with cheap, unobtrusive sensors set
up around the home. Four to six motion detectors on the walls, plus a switch
that detects when a pillbox is opened, are wired to a communications box in a
closet which sends sensor information over the Internet to a processing
station. There, software being developed by Honeywell compares what's going
on in the home - when a person gets out of bed, goes to the bathroom, and so
forth - to patterns recorded during a calibration period. 

The goal of the software is to glean a picture of the persons daily
activities. Motion in the bathroom and the opening of a pillbox, for example,
would tell the computer that the person is taking medication. Activity in the
kitchen would indicate the person is eating or drinking. Lack of these
signals at certain times, or decreased activity overall, would suggest
something is wrong; the computer would then make a telephone call with a
simple reminder such as "take your pills?" The system could also alert
caregivers, via either a call or an e-mail. Honeywell expects to sell the
system in three to five years; while the prototype costs $5,000, the
commercial version should cost less than $500, says Tom Plocher, the
projects leader. 

The Intel consortium is developing even more sensitive ways to follow the
activities of elderly people. Its research goes beyond motion detectors and
pillbox sensors to include things like pressure sensors on an Alzheimer's
patients favorite chair, networks of cameras, and tiny radio tags embedded
in household items and clothing that communicate with tag readers in floor
mats, shelves, and walls. From the pattern of these signals, a computer can
deduce what a person is doing and intervene - giving instructions over a
networked television or bedside radio, or wirelessly alerting a caregiver.
Dishman says Intel wiil install the first trial systems in the homes of two
dozen Alzheimer's patients by early next year. 

Crucial to the most advanced systems is software. It's one thing to get raw
sensor information, but quite another to figure out what the person in the
home is actually doing, says Misha Pavel, a biomedical engineer at the Oregon
Health and Science University in Portland, OR. Working with Intel, Pavel's
team is developing artificial intelligence algorithms that deduce a person's
intent by building a statistical hierarchy of possibilities - say, making
tea, cooking, or doing dishes - that is based on past experience. 

Longer term, software could even help detect disease. At the University of
Rochester's Center for Future Health, researchers are using networks of video
cameras and powerful computers to detect changes in behavior and coordination
signaling early-stage neurological disorders. In theory, a home system might
detect the onset of Alzheimers or Parkinsons disease before a patient
deteriorates enough to seek a doctor's help, says Philippe Fauchet, the
center's director. 

One possible sign of early-stage Alzheimer's that a monitoring system could
detect: a person standing in the kitchen for a few minutes without doing
anything. And to spot early Parkinson's symptoms, the Rochester researchers
are developing machine vision algorithms to extract the movements of a
persons arms, legs, and torso from video shot from multiple cameras in a
room. This is the first step toward a software product that can detect very
early Parkinsons symptoms like decreased stride length and asymmetries in
arm swinging. But turning these algorithms into practical systems will take
time; Fauchet predicts commercialization will take a decade. 

Health-care experts foresee no shortage of customers. Larry Minnix, president
of the Washington, DC-based American Association of Homes and Services for
the Aging, which represents 5,600 nursing homes and elder-care facilities,
says consumers will pay handsomely for technologies that keep them or their
aging parents independent, alleviate caregiver burnout, and improve
nursing-home care. "Good care is expensive, but inadequate care is a lot more
expensive," he says. Big technology companies are betting he's right, as they
bankroll these systems' transition from lab curiosities to demonstration
models. "Two years from now, you will see many more trials of holistic home
monitoring systems than exist today," says Dishman. After all, these
technologies are about improving the lives of the elderly - and developing
new markets. Neither idea is likely to get old. 



Sampling of Companies in elderly home-monitoring

GE Industrial Systems (Plainville, CT) - Low-cost wireless sensing system
that caregivers can access 

Honeywell Laboratories (Minneapolis, MN) - Motion sensors and software that
learns daily patterns of behavior in homes 

Intel Research (Hillsboro, OR) - Radio chips that track activity and software
that detects cognitive decline 

Matsushita Electric Works (Osaka, Japan) - Interactive robot pets and
advanced sensors to assist elderly nursing-home patients 

Motorola's iDEN Subscriber Group (Plantation, FL) - Smart cell phones that
give reminders or directions and relay vital signs to caregivers


Caption: A radio frequency identification tag on an ordinary dinner plate is
part of an Intel system designed to help loved ones track whether an elderly
person is eating.


Read the story at:
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/innovation10703.asp
