High-tech allows for discreet tabs on elderly

Citation

(2003), "High-tech allows for discreet tabs on elderly", Sensor Review, Vol. 23 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.2003.08723aab.004

High-tech allows for discreet tabs on elderly

High-tech allows for discreet tabs on elderly

Keywords: Health care, Sensors

New sensor devices permit caregivers to monitor the condition of their charges from a distance to preserve their privacy. It is clear that the elderly have the right to this privacy, but that too often comes at the expense of caregivers’ peace of mind. Now it is possible to have both, thanks to new developments in sensor technology that allow caregivers to monitor elderly patients’ health without being intrusive.

Health care products for the elderly are geared to meet the needs of a rapidly aging society. Many new products are extremely sensitive to physiological changes, like a slower heartbeat due to a sudden drop in room temperature. There are reports of old people passing out or becoming otherwise incapacitated while being alone at home and these are fueling demand.

Health care equipment developed by Art Data Corp. offers a high-precision sensor that monitors the heartbeat, a device that can be attached to clothing, placed on a mattress, built into a toilet seat or sealed inside a water-proof mat and placed in a bathtub. This sensor keeps track of the heartbeat and provides early warning if something goes amiss.

The sensor has two parts – a detector unit made from a tube of silicone rubber and a display unit that shows the heart rate on a liquid crystal device. The air inside the tube helps to transfer the pulse rate to a vibration plate where it is converted into an electrical signal. The company uses a proprietary algorithm to eliminate noise and to boost the sensitivity of the sensor, which can even be attached to a sandal to monitor the heartbeat from the foot’s sole.

Art Data’s main product is a safety system that uses sensors attached to objects such as refrigerators to detect the opening and closing of doors, allowing caregivers to monitor the activity of the elderly living alone. Art Data now plans to market integrated systems that combine the safety sensors with its new heart rate sensors.

Noritz Corp., a leading maker of gas-fired bath and hot water heaters, is selling a different kind of monitoring system that employs image sensors to track motion when somebody takes a bath. In winter, the bathroom can be a physiologically stressful place because the roof is so much colder than the rest of the house and because of the sudden change in body temperature with immersion in hot bath water. This new system uses CMOS image sensors attached to the ceiling to monitor individuals in the bathroom. If no motion is detected after a fixed time, the system gives two audible warnings to the person in the bath, and if there is still no motion, a warning is conveyed to a device located in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house to alert family members.

Noritz has also begun selling a heart rate monitor that can be put inside the bathtub. Three sensors measure the faint electric signals generated by the beating heart, and can be displayed either inside the bathroom or elsewhere in the house, like the kitchen. Sensors are increasingly found in monitoring systems used by nursing homes and hospitals. Hotron Co., a Tokyo maker of sensors for automated doors has perfected a sensor that can detect whether a person is lying in bed or not. Linked to a nurse-call system, the device can quickly indicate when a person has fallen from bed, or is up and wandering around. Hotron’s bed sensor is built into a thin vinyl sheet that is placed under the sheets or mattress. The device emits faint electro-magnetic waves that detect the electrical change caused by body movements. The firm plans to develop a home-use version, which will be integrated with a wireless communicator.

Last December, Matsushita Nursing Home Co., a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., opened a new elderly care facility called Sincere Kourien, which is packed with state-of-the-art equipment. Among its many gadgets is a wireless nurse-call system developed by an Israeli firm, Elpas Ltd. Every resident in the nursing home wears a small infrared transmitter that functions as a portable nurse-call button. Sensors attached to ceilings throughout the facility keep track of each transmitter’s location so that it can instantly be conveyed if the wearer presses a button calling for help.

The same system can also be used to define the area in which residents are allowed to roam. If a patient wanders onto a balcony or other dangerous spot, a warning is promptly transmitted to the call center so action can be taken without delay.