Ambient Assisted Living

Handbook of Ambient Assisted Living

2012-01-04T04:39:00.000-08:00

IOS Press published the "Handbook of Ambient Assisted Living - Technology for Healthcare, Rehabilitation and Well-being" in its Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments series. The book was edited by Juan Carlos Augusto, Michael Huch, Achilles Kameas, Julie Maitland, Paul McCullagh, Jean Roberts, Andrew Sixsmith, Reiner Wichert.

It presents and summarizes the achievements of researchers around the globe and from diverse technical backgrounds. They use a wide range of approaches to optimize the use of healthcare technology and integrate such technology into human lives in a way that will benefit all. The book is divided into seven main sections: AAL in the health space; Devices and infrastructure to facilitate AAL; AAL in gerontology; Smart homes as a vehicle for AAL; Applications of AAL in rehabilitation; AAL initiatives; and Novel developments and visions for the area.

AAL Forum 2011

2011-10-24T02:35:00.000-07:00

The objective of the AAL Forum is to show the significant progresses made by the AAL-JP projects and its practical implications on the daily life of seniors as well as dedicating the attention to the most recent EU initiatives, like the pilot European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

Cyberdyne in Sweden

2009-11-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today I attended a seminar at Danderyds Hospital about innovative Technology in neurorehabilitation. Prof. Sankai, Tsukuba University gave a lecture about his research and demonstrated his latest version of robot suit HAL. His company Cyberdyne has signed a letter of attention with DS to conduct clinical trails. This is a great opportunity for Sweden to evaluate forefront robotics.

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IEEE Spectrum 11/09

2009-11-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

Robots for real

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The Ethics and Assistive Technology Survey

2009-11-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Assistive technologies are intended to improve the lives of people with disabilities by enabling independence and facilitating social connections. Examples of such technologies include powered wheelchairs and speech recognition software.

Professor Dr. Peter Danielson at the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British Columbia conducts research about ethics and assistive technology. The purpose of the research is to facilitate well-informed discussion about complex issues related to ethics and scientific and technological developments.

A survey with 14 questions is now open for participation.

Telecoach for Night Walks in Stockholm County

2009-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

Inhabitants in the County of Stockholm can call a special telephone number, called "Nattknappen" (Night button) if they feel unsafe when walking home at weekend nights. On Fridays and Saturdays between 23:00 - 03.30 everybody in the Stockholm County can call 08-50 44 66 66 and talk to one of 40 trained volunteers, who identifies the position of the caller, where he/she is going and follows the caller via the phone back home. If there should be an incident, the volonteer can call for police assistance. The name Nattknappen refers to the idea to store the phone number as a shortcut in the mobile phone for easy and fast access.

AAL track at ITNG 2010

2009-10-26T01:38:00.000-07:00

The 6th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations, ITNG 2010 April 12-14, 2010, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA includes a track about Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) for Elderly People. Following topics are announced:
Case studies / use cases / scenarios / application domains
Requirements of WSN for ambient assisted living for elderly people and/or health care
Business models for wireless sensor network applications
Sensor hardware
Supporting technologies for elderly people
Middleware for wireless sensor network
Reference architectures
Standards (hardware/software/healthcare, etc.)
Concepts and tools for building wireless sensor network applications
Development models
Code generation for wireless sensor network platforms
Model-driven architectures and development
Data fusion and classification as well as context recognition
Tracking and localization of objects and individuals
Remote medical monitoring
Security and privacy issues
Performance and reliability issues
Deployment and maintenance
Energy and efficiency
Time and synchronization
Data acquisition models and routing

Independent Lifestye System for Elderly People

2009-10-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

Researchers at the Austrian Institute of Computer Aided Automation are developing a reliable and automated computer vision system to enable an independent lifestyle for the elderly and disabled. The system is based in the area of “smart homes” but uses state-of-the-art 2d and 3d computer vision techniques. The system will be a closed system for the automatic visual event detection and the communication with mobile devices. Main goal is the robust fall detection of elderly people. Fire, smoke and water detection and assistance for medication are introduced in a second step.

AAL Conference Eindhoven, 19-20 November 2009

2009-09-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

The SOPRANO consortium consisting of 24 Partners from 7 different countries (Greece, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and Ireland) is organising a conferens aimed to explore Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) concepts. The conference will discuss AAL application design, user involvement, technologies and market potential.
More info.

Robot Ethics

2009-09-07T03:51:00.001-07:00

Australian philosopher Robert Sparrow, Centre for Human Bioethics, believes it is unethical to attempt to substitute robot simulacra for geniune social interaction. He has been working for the last several years on the ethics of robotics, including ethics of military robotics and ethics of health-care robotics. In his paper "In the hands of machines? The future of aged care", Mind Mach, Springer 2006 he and his co-author Linda Sparrow, an independentt Age Care Consultant, emphasis the importance of social and emotional needs of older persons, which robots are incapable of meeting. The use of robots in elderly care would be detrimental to the well-being of the elderly people.
What do you think? Is it unethical to attempt to substitute robot simulacra for genuine social interaction?
Please enter your answer in the inquiry on the left.

Roadmap for AAL Research

2009-09-07T03:05:00.000-07:00

The AALIANCE initiative – “The European Ambient Assisted Living Innovation Alliance” - aims to coordinate the European AAL R&D community and to develop a common strategic vision for short-, mid- and long-term R&D approaches in the AAL context. An important step towards this aim is the release of the Ambient Assisted Living Roadmap for research and innovation which the project consortium has now published on its website.

The full document of 120 pages provides an in-depth look into the future of AAL application areas, concepts and technologies until 2025. Download

The Living Space - An Aware Environment for Improving the Quality of Life

2009-09-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

The Living Space project is a town-scale smart environment for research on
Assisted Living Technologies where rsearchers from Italian Create-Net and Georgia Tech (USA)can experiment ambient assisted living technologies inspired in the Aware-Home paradigm, from the perspective of the European user. The project is co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The specific objectives of the project are:
•Development of The Living Space lab as a home-like environment for conducting experimentation on ambient assisted living.
•Investigate the ways for improving quality of life of individuals by means of the use of technology, especially for the aging population, disables and their relatives.
•Identification of the main issues involved in the perception of European and American users of ambient intelligence technologies and its consequences in future designs for improving product usability and acceptance.
•Promote exchange of students/researchers from Georgia Tech and Create-Net for development of innovative prototypes mirrored for being tested in European and American contexts. Info.

Workshop on Intelligent Objects in AAL

2009-09-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

The smart home of the future will be filled of intelligent objects that have the capacity to sense the user and communicate with other objects. These objects allow to infer something about the behavior of humans, and other intelligent objects.

Sensors embedded in the home enviroment can provide context information to support context-aware applications, additional information about a person’s cognitive state and physical capability can be inferred from interactions with familiar objects in the environment.

The Workshop on Intelligent Objects in Assisted Living at AmI09 will discuss existing research and future directions related to intelligent objects in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). This includes both theoretical and applied research related to Augmented (Smart) Objects in AAL. The focus of the workshop will be to explore the use of intelligent objects, augmented objects, or smart objects in the development of context aware applications for the purpose of monitoring well-being and supporting independent living.

Wearable Health Monitoring Systems

2009-08-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

The aim of wearable health monitoring systems is to enable adaptive, real-time, continuous and non-invasive healthcare for home and out-of-hospital environments. Components of such systems are biosensors that can measure high-quality biological signals, advanced system identification and signal processing algorithms to extract valuable clinical information therein.

SmartLife® Technology Ltd is a UK based Medical Technology Company aiming to become a leading global provider within the field of personalised wearable monitoring systems. The SmartLife team, have developed a novel textile based technology platform incorporating flexible integral dry sensors that allow the monitoring of vital health signs such as ECG, heart rate, EMG, respiration, tidal flow and skin temperature, to meet international clinical standards.

U.S. company Bodymedia, founded in 1999 is a world leader in the design and development of wearable body monitoring products and services. The companies products and patented technologies provide accurate and actionable information about the health and behaviors of people outside of the traditional clinical setting.

GoWear® fit, launched in November 2008, is BodyMedia’s first direct-to-consumer product; its patented multi-sensor technology adapts to the uses body and its unique characteristics. GoWear fit measures calorie expenditure, steps, physical activity, and sleep duration and efficiency.

Some research projects
ETH Zurich - MyHeart: On-line monitoring of nutrition using body-worn sensors to support fighting cardio-vascular diseases.
daphnet -Dynamic Analysis of Physiological Networks
The University of Alabama in Huntsville: WHMS - Wearable Health Monitoring Systems
NASA AMES ASTROBIONICS: LifeGuard – A Wearable Vital Signs Monitoring System
Microsoft Research: HealthGear: A Real-time Wearable System for
Monitoring and Analyzing Physiological Signals

BAALL – Bremen Ambient Assisted Living Lab

2009-04-20T04:09:00.000-07:00

The Bremen Ambient Assisted Living Lab, BAALL, is an apartment suitable for the elderly and people with physical or cognitive impairments. With a size of 60 m², it comprises all necessary conditions for trial living, intended for two persons. It is situated at the Bremen site of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in one of the labs of the research department Safe and Secure Cognitive Systems in the Cartesium building.

BAALL has been developed under the lead of Prof. Dr. Bernd Krieg-Brückner in cooperation with Universität Bremen in the EU project SHARE-it and the SFB/TR8 Spatial Cognition of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

AAL event at ITNG 2009 in Las Vegas

2009-04-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) for Elderly People track on ITNG 2009- 6th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations ITNG 2009, April 27-29, 2009, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, is intended to provide a high-quality forum for researchers and practitioners to present their latest theoretical and practical work in this rapidly-changing area. The special tracck will focus on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL).

Telehealth and Assistive Technology (TAT 2009)

2009-04-14T02:07:00.000-07:00

Telehealth and Assistive Technology 2009, November 4 – 6, 2009, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Telehealth and Assistive Technology 2009 is intended to be an international forum for researchers and practitioners interested in the advances in and applications of Telehealth, assistive software technology, assistive ergonomics technology, assistive rehabilitative technology, and assistive medical technology; to exchange the latest research, results, and ideas in these areas.

TAT 2009 will be held in conjunction with the IASTED International Conferences on:
Robotics and Applications (RA 2009)
Intelligent Systems and Control (ISC 2009)
Parallel and Distributed Computing and Systems (PDCS 2009)
Software Engineering and Applications (SEA 2009)

Telehealth Market 2012

2009-04-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

The current market for telehealth and home health monitoring in North America and Europe is $3 billion, according to Data Monitor, a research firm, and is projected to rise to $8 billion by 2012. But much of remote monitoring today is done by nurses and physician assistants, who call patients with reminders and advice. Health care has to go efficiently into the home, to enable elders to age in place with dignity. The early market for high-tech remote monitoring systems will be integrated health providers insurers and specialized disease-management companies. The market for personal health care technology, like remote monitoring, could benefit considerably if reimbursement moves toward a pay-for-performance system.

$M 250 Telehealth Venture

2009-04-14T01:35:00.000-07:00

The Intel® Health Guide allows clinicians to monitor patients in their homes and manage care remotely.

U.S. Intel and General Electric have partnered to develop products to remotely monitor and diagnose patients outside of doctors' offices and hospitals. GE said in a press release that there is a increasing need to extend care from the hospital to the home. The two companies plan to spend $250 million over the next five years on the "telehealth" venture, they announced this week. Under the agreement, General Electric will sell and distribute Intel's Health Guide, which the company describes as a "care management tool designed for healthcare professionals who manage patients with chronic conditions." GE and Intel said they expect the "telehealth" industry to grow from a $3-billion industry in 2009, to an almost $8-billion industry by 2012.

AAL project in Denmark

2009-03-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

An international project headed by North Denmark EU Office and the Center for TeleInFrastruktur at Aalborg University, aims to help senior citizens with cognitive problems or mild dementia to stay in their homes. The project will test various technological solutions which can reduce public sector costs at the same time as improving the life quality of the elderly, Aalborg University writes in a press release. The project named Intelligent System for Independent Living and Selfcare of Seniors with Cognitive Problems or Mild Dementia (ISISEMD) has a total budget of DKK 33m (USD 5.7m) of which approximately half is funded by the EU.

Project partners are: North Denmark EU Office, Aalborg University, the National Technical University in Athen, Frederikshavn municipality's Department for the Elderly (Denmark), Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (UK), Trikala municipality in Greece, Lappeenranta municipality in Finland, Eltronic, Alcatel-Lucent, Hewlett Packard, Socrate Medical and Converge.

50+ Consumers Needs and Lifestyle

2009-03-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Consumers over 50 are a compelling market with unique needs and the desire to acquire technologies that make their life more engaging and fun. According to Matt Mitchell, SVP & CIO, AARP 50+ consumers expect of products and serices:

Functionality –target specific lifestyles and needs
Now-ability –Boomers are impatient, be where they are
Simplicity –simple is efficient, efficient is simple
Engage-ability –technology must be engaging
Play-ability –If its engaging, they will want to play with it
Connect-ability –connect to people next to you or globally
Trust-ability –boomers need to trust that it is secure and works

CES/Silver Summit 2009

Remote Telemonitoring - Current Evidence Review

2009-03-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

The European Centre for Connected Health reports that there is a growing volume of evidence in the field of telemedicine. Evidence from the literature is strongest for the use of home telemonitoring in the management of chronic disease, in particular the monitoring of vital signs.

The evidence base is not without weaknesses and some of the main criticism of the current evidence is the lack of studies of large size and the relatively short duration of a number of the interventions. To date there has been insufficient economic appraisal of telemedicine interventions.

The evidence base is relatively strong in favour of the use of remote telemonitoring in diabetes mellitus, chronic heart failure and to a lesser extent for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Benefits offered from remote telemonitoring reported from this review are:
• Patient acceptance and satisfaction with remote telemonitoring
• Health Professional acceptance
• Reduction of chronic disease complications
• Improvement in patients quality of life to include reduction in days spent in hospital and travel time associated with appointments for patients
• Improvement in patient self management and education
• Patient empowerment
• Significant reduction in mortality associated with chronic heart failure
• Reduction in acute hospital admissions and rehospitalisation episodes

Draft Report June 2008

The Next Generation of Personal Telehealth

2009-03-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Continua Health Alliance - The Next Generation of Personal Telehealth - is a non-profit, open industry alliance of leading healthcare and technology companies in the world joining together in collaboration to improve the quality of personal healthcare. The mission is to establish an eco-system of interoperable personal health systems that empower people & organizations to better manage their health and wellness.

First Public Interoperability Demonstration was arranged at the Harvard Medical Amphitheater October 27, 2008. After two years of work from more than 175 companies around the world, Continua Health Alliance has announced the formal release of its Version One Design Guidelines and the Continua Certification Program. These guidelines encompass connectivity for vital sign devices (pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, weight scale, glucose meter), cardiovascular fitness equipment and independent living activity monitors.

The Market Potential
According to World Health Organization , WHO and McKinsey worldwide 1 billion adults have overweight, 860 million chronic disease patients, 600 million elders age 60 or older, 75-85% of healthcare spending is on chronic disease management.

Quality of Life Technology Symposium

2009-03-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

Technologies to support quality of life and to maintain social and productive activities of every person are most demanded for the sustainability of the society. Focusing technology on various applications of robot services and intelligent sensing systems to prepare for demographic change and support quality of life is timely and of interest for scientists, engineers and society. In this conference, the leading researchers in the fields will exchange their scopes, activities and most recent developments and open discussion to the participants.
International Symposium on Quality of Life TechnologyJune 30-July 1, 2009University Club at OaklandPittsburgh, PA, USA Go to conference website

Home-based Empowered Living for Parkinson’s Disease

2009-03-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

A European consortium is working on a project aimed at developing a system that will allow doctors to automatically regulate guidelines for individual treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
The work is being undertaken as part of the Home-based Empowered Living for Parkinson’s Disease (HELP) initiative, which is funded by the European Union’s (EU’s) Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme.

The aim of the pproject is to design a control system for a subcutaneous infusion pump that administers the exact drug dose required by patients according to their level of activity. The researchers hope that this will prevent blockages and the adverse effects of medication overdoses. The system will determine the dose required on the basis of the patient’s degree of mobility.

INHOME Project - Final Activity Report

2009-03-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

The INHOME Project - An intelligent Interactive Service Envionment for Assisted Living - started Januari 1, 2007 and was cofunded by the European Union with 2,3 million euro under the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) for the Ageing Society program.

The goal of the INHOME project was to provide the means for improving the quality of life of elderly people at home, by developing generic technologies for managing their domestic ambient environment, comprised of white goods, entertainment equipment and home automation systems with the aim to increase their autonomy and safety.is to provide the means for improving the quality of life of elderly people at home, by developing generic technologies for managing their domestic ambient environment, comprised of white goods, entertainment equipment and home automation systems with the aim to increase their autonomy and safety.

The Final Activity Report summarizes the work and achievements performed by the INHOME
consortium during the whole project. The partners have performed the planned work in the
different WPs.

Ubiquitous Care System to Support Independent Living

2009-03-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

The main objective of the CONFIDENCE project, led and coordinated by CEIT, is the development and integration of innovative technologies to develop a care system for the detection of abnormal events (such as falls) or unexpected behaviors that may be related to a health problem in elderly people. Nowadays, most of the care systems in the market are limited to detect falls. The innovation of CONFIDENCE is that it will not only detect falls, but also identify short and long term unexpected behaviors that could indicate health problems.

The project is funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission that granted this project with the highest mark among 126 projects. CONFIDENCE has a budget of 4 million Euros for the next 3 years. The partners of the project are the following ones: CEIT-IK4 and IKERLAN-IK4 from Spain, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS from Germany, the Jozef Stefan Institute from Slovenia, Cooss Marche and Cup 2000 from Italy, the University of Jyvaskyla from Finland, the Umea Municipality of Sweden, Edevice from France and Zenon from Greece.

Domestic Robotics and Smart Device Ecologies

2009-03-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

A special session on domestic robotics and smart device ecologies will be held at the 5th International Conference on Intelligent Environments (IE’09), at the Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain from July 20 to July 21, 2009.

Domestic robotics is envisioned as being at the forefront of the next social revolution, taking the mantle from the internet and the information revolution we are currently experiencing. It is expected that domestic robots will form an integral part of the intelligent environments of the future, along with humans. Together they will form the new ecosystem or smart-device-ecology, acting in synergy to provide intelligent seamless services. The aim of this years track is to provide a forum for the latest research in both areas, with an integrated view where domestic robots and smart devices co-exist and collaborate within the new digital ecology paradigm.

Mobile Robots in Smart Homes

2009-03-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

A new AAL solution for elderly care is the synergetic combination of an embodied mobile robotic companion in an ambient assited living environment that supports carers, both family members and therapists, in their daily tasks.
The CompanionAble Project started January 1, 2008 and coordinated by The University of Reading, UK. The project is aimed to provide the synergy of Robotics and Ambient Intelligence technologies and their semantic integration for a care-giver's assistive environment. This will support the cognitive stimulation and therapy management of the care-recipient. This is mediated by a robotic companion (mobile facilitation) working collaboratively with a smart home environment (stationary facilitation).
A Mobile Robot Companion has the advantage of real interaction with natural interface and human-like behaviour. Mobility allows mobile video conference, alarm evaluation, remote
control by relatives/social care services.

The CompanionAble project is co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme with € 7,8 million.

Ambient Intelligence Living Research in Europe

2009-03-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

The German Fraunhofer-Institut für Experimentelles Software Engineering, IESE in Kaiserslautern is one of the worldwide leading research institutes in the area of software and systems development. "Ambient Intelligence" is a research area in which Fraunhofer IESE together with the University of Kaiserslautern deals with various projects. Ambient Intelligence Systems provide an intelligent environment that reacts in a sensitive and adaptive way to the presence of humans and objects in order to provide various services to people.

Fraunhofer IESE is enganged in four large AI projects:

BelAmI - Bilateral German-Hungarian Research Collaboration on Ambient Intelligence Systems
The BelAmI project aims at developing innovative technologies and system development methods in the area of Ambient Intelligence. This goal is to be reached by making use of the complementary expertise of the researchers in the participating institutions; finding solutions to research challanges in problems characteristic to the field of Ambient Intelligence; demonstrating these solutions in real life application scenarios; producing application systems for the industry.

EMERGE - Emergency Monitoring and Prevention
EMERGE intends to model the typical behavior of elderly people with medical risks following an integrated approach that uses ambient and unobtrusive sensors, in order to detect deviations from typical behavior, reason on acute disorders, and prevent emergencies. EMERGE tries to improve emergency assistance through early detection and proactive prevention. Ambient and unobtrusive sensing is used to enhance user acceptance. As a consequence, the quality of life for elderly people can increase. Costs for emergency medical services (EMS) can be leveraged for the elderly as well as for public health and society.

AALIANCE
The Coordination Action AALIANCE - funded by the European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, within the 7th Framework Programme - focuses on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions based on advanced ICT technologies for the areas of aging at work, aging at homed and aging in the society.

OASIS
OASIS is the acronym of a Large Scale Integrated Project co-financed by the European Commission (7th Framework Programme, ICT and Ageing – Grant Agreement No: 215754). The full project name is: Open architecture for Accessible Services Integration and Standardization. It started on January 1, 2008 and has a length of four years. The OASIS Consortium is composed of 33 Partners from 11 countries. Large Industries, SMEs, Universities, Research Centers, Non-Profit Organizations, Public Organizations and Healthcare Centers are all represented.

OASIS is an Integrated Project with the scope to revolutionise the interoperability, quality, breadth and usability of services for all daily activities of older people.
More specifically, OASIS targets to utilise ICT and other key technologies in order to provide holistic services to older people to support their physical and psychological independence, stimulate their social or psychological engagement and foster their emotional well being.
In doing so, OASIS thus addresses key areas of their activities encompassing: independent living and socialising, autonomous mobility, and flexible work-ability.

A Pilots test-bed, consisting of 4 sites Europewide (in North, Central, South and East- Europe) and all potential test environments per site: Living Labs for technical verification and iterative development, Sheltered Homes for assisted living and user communities related real-world applications and Independent Living, namely private homes, for real world applications.

Health and Care Lab inHaus2, Germany

2009-03-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

The inHaus Innovation Center is the cooperation platform of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for new technology and application solutions in residential and commercial properties. Practical application laboratories for living, office, teleservice, hotel, events, hospital and nursing homes in the two research facilities serve as interface to the market. See inHaus2 Video

The Health and Care Lab, where new models are being developed which help to look after people in need of care, and the organization of care facilities is being made easier. Technical solutions can provide greater safety for elderly, disabled or sick people in need of care, without restricting their independence. In the next-generation nursing home with its networked room systems, cases of emergency can be automatically recognized and staff can react quickly. Sensors in each room automatically deliver electronic data to support the care documentation process. This helps to save an enormous amount of time and money. In order to find out how this ideas are received by the patients themselves and which measures are most effectively support the nursing staff, studies are carried out at regular intervals with the help of everyone involved. On the occasion of the opening celebrations, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO presented its showcase "Pflege 2020" (Care 2020), introducing a living environment for elderly people that enables them to remain active and independent, and ensures their safety.

http://www.t-systems.com/tsi/servlet/contentblob/t-systems.de/en/600304/blobBinary/FlashJS-mo.swf

Telemonitoring for Diabetes Promotes Aging at Home

2009-03-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

A large study of ethnically and racially diverse individuals with diabetes has found that home telemonitoring of their health resulted in significantly fewer deaths than in a similar group that was not monitored. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
The study of 387 diabetics and 387 individuals without diabetes appears in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare.

The researchers, led by Neale Chumbler, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis’s School of Liberal Arts and a Regenstrief Institute research scientist, used home telemonitoring technology to support timely transmission of diabetics’ symptoms and health status at least once a day to a nurse coordinator who managed the process and acted upon the information when necessary or when requested by the patient.

AAL Projects in Sweden 2009

2009-03-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hearing@Home, HaH
The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm is participant of the HaH project funded by the European Commission in its 6th framework program (FP6-IST STREP project) and addressing the strategic objective of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) for the Ageing Society.

The HaH project focuses on the needs of the hearing-impaired in home environments. Formerly separated devices like the personal computer (PC), hi-fi systems, TV sets, digital cameras, telephones, fax machines, intercoms, and services like internet access, Voice over IP (VoIP), Personal Information Management (PIM), Pay TV, and home automation grow together. These devices and services are accessible via a TV set that is connected to a PC or set top box (STB) that implements interfaces to network gateways as well as to home automation scenarios. The TV set becomes the »central Home Information and Communication (HIC) platform« of the household in the communication society. The HIC platform will support the hearing-impaired with easy to configure »supportive audio signal processing (SASP)« and visual support on a TV screen.

Mainstreaming on Ambient Intelligence, MonAMI
The Swedish Institute of Assistive Technology (SIAT) is coordinator of the MonAMI project funded by the EU 6th framework programme IST (Information Society Technologies).
The overall objective of MonAMI is to ensure equal access, independent living and participation for elderly and disabled persons in the Information society.This will be done through applied research and development, using advanced technology in order to mainstream accessibility in consumer goods and services, including public services.

COGAIN - Communication by Gaze Interaction
COGAIN is a network of excellence on Communication by Gaze Interaction, supported by the European Commission's IST 6th framework program. COGAIN integrates cutting-edge expertise on interface technologies for the benefit of users with disabilities. The network aims to gather Europe's leading expertise in eye tracking integration with computers in a research project on assistive technologies for citizens with motor impairments.
Swedish partners are Tobii Technology AB and DART– Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Assistive Technology (AT).

Improved Health, Safety and Well being for Elderly people
The Centre for Distance-Spanning Healthcare (CDH) at Luleå University of Technology is partner in the MyHealth project that aims to offer the ageing population in the Northern Periphery region improved Health, Safety and Well being through the use of new products and services. The products and services focus on mobile safety alarms, prescribed self treatment and social networks. The products and services are developed in close co-operation between elderly people, healthcare and welfare staff, ICT companies and healthcare and welfare researchers. The products and services are evaluated and improved during field trials in Sweden, Norway and Northern Ireland.

Early Dementia Care - CogKnow
The Centre for Distance-Spanning Healthcare (CDH) at Luleå University of Technology is partner in the FP6-project CogKnow and aims to help ageing people with early dementia to experience greater autonomy and feelings of empowerment, and to enjoy an enhanced quality of life. CogKnow also aims to develop and evaluate in field tests a user validated remotely configurable cognitive prosthetic device with associated services for people with mild dementia. Cogknow is a STREP within the 6th Framework programme.

Network for family caregivers
InView and the Swedish Carer Organisation have initiated a joint project to develop services on top of the ippi solution to simplify everyday life of carers. The project is supported by the Swedish Institute of Assistive Technology, SIAT. Inview has developed ippi™ that can receive and send via TV film clips, photos, text, voice messages and e-mails from and to all mobile phones and computers in the world. (Inview News)

Mobilephone for Elderly
Swedish Institute of Assistive Technology, SIAT, is funding the development of a user friendly mobile phone for elderly with 750.000 SEK. The phone will be developed by Swedish phone company Doro and will be launched in 2009.

Individual mobile phone user interface
Rule Communications AB, a spinoff from a collaboration between researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) and Columbia University (New York, USA), is developing an individual mobile phone user interface aimed for elderly people aged 75 years and older. The user interface can be transfered from mobile phones not older than 2005 to new models and lowers the learning curve for the elderly dramatically.

TimeCard - Digital timer with light signals
Ramatek AB is devloping a digital timer for people with hearing disabilities. The project is funded by SIAT with 400 000 SEK.

Elderly caregivers and technology
Karolinska Institute, Division of Occupational Therapy, has started a pilotstudy to develop a checklist for caregivers and families that can help to identfy important technology aspects when supporting people with dementia.

Technically Assisted Rehabilitation - TAR 2009

2009-03-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

2nd European Conference, March 18 - 19, 2009 in Berlin.

Innovative technological devices offer promising therapeutic approaches for numerous applications in rehabilitation. The TAR topics are:

Musculoskeletal system: Prosthetics
Musculoskeletal system: Orthotics
Vision/Audition/Nervous System
Neurorehabilitation
Telerehabilitation and Ambient assisted living

Reharobotics Keynote: Robot-Assisted Motivating Rehabilitation: A strategy for robotic therapy after stroke for the clinic, at home, and in the community, Johnson, Medical College of Wisconsin. More information here.

Ambient Assisted Living Lab in Bremen

2009-03-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

A new Ambient Assisted Living Lab has been opened in Bremen, Germany. In the lab new AAL-technology will be tested and evaluated for everyday usability. The focus is on (natural language) interaction between users of the wheelchair ROLLAND or the INTELLIGENTWALKER with an intelligent environment (room automation, intelligent furniture control, etc.); on this basis, higher assistance scenarios shall be realised. More information in German only.

Telehealth Services in USA

2009-03-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

According to the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) there are more than 200 telehealth networks connecting some 2,000 institutions across the country.

In 2008, a Forrester Research survey found that more than half of U.S. online consumers never heard of Internet-based health monitoring services that help manage chronic conditions, or home-based monitoring solutions for aging, ill, or disabled family members.
Health care benefits of live videoconferencing are improved access to specialty care for rural and underserved patients-earlier diagnosis and intervention for chronic conditions, fewer redundancies in tests, lab work, and exams, reduced cost of care by up to 6% overall, but 42% for follow-up care, reduced wait times, improved training and education of medical interns.

Telemedicine applications allow doctors and hospitals to share and send video telecommunications, as well as X-ray and digital images, to other doctors and hospitals located in other parts of the country, thereby giving patients, especially those living in remote communities, better quality of care and increased convenience. Broadband services work to facilitate medical access to and advice from multiple medical specialists.

Using a remote monitoring system with high-resolution video and real time data on patient vitals, one doctor is able to treat multiple patients in the ICU at once. Using this type of medicine at Johns Hopkins “cut ICU deaths by 50% and saved 90 lives annually.

Sources: Doty, Carlton A., “Delivering Care Anytime, Anywhere; Telehealth Alters the Medical Ecosystem.” Forrester Research for the California Healthcare Foundation. November, 2008. Fuhr, Joseph P. Jr. Broadband Services: Economic and Environmental Benefits. American Consumer Institute. October 2007

Safer life for people with dementia

2009-03-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Researchers at the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering, BIME, have developed an innovative ‘smart’ sensing systems that will help the UK’s 700,000 dementia sufferers live independently at home could be available commercially. With funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the systems incorporate specially developed, cutting-edge sensor, electronics and IT capabilities.

At two care homes in London and the West Country trial systems have been in operation for over one year. The systems help people with dementia live safely and with more control over their lives. The system helps also reduce the burden on the families as well as on professional carers and healthcare budgets.

BIME director professor Roger Orpwood says: “The driver really has been to arrive at a creative engineering solution that addresses real problems faced by real people with real needs. The key is to focus on enabling people, not on taking decisions away from them.” It is envisaged that systems installed in domestic properties would function on a simple ‘plug in and use’ basis, with minimal visibility or intrusiveness.

The key will be to tailor them to individual requirements and ensure that they act as much like a live-in carer as possible. For example, voice-prompts can utilise the voices of relatives or friends to deliver reassuring messages, as well as to influence behaviour.

The systems are also designed to be monitored remotely via computer by healthcare professionals.

Wireless Patient Monitoring

2009-03-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Cheap, wireless paperbased sensors with build-in batteries will soon invade our environment and revolutionize lifestye and behavior of patients, doctors and care givers.

At the iPack Center at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm Sweden, researchers develop core technologies for heterogeneous integration of bio-medical sensors, energy supplies, computing and wireless communications on fiber-based packaging and paper-boards, for innovative products such as smart bio-paper, intelligent pharmaceutical packaging and storage, intelligent patient monitoring devices.

Wearable Patient Monitoring Sensors
Today, patient monitoring devices are often wired, at least from the sensor to the data recorder device that the patient wears. These wires can be removed by integrating sensors, a radio link, and an integrated battery on a small piece of thick paper. This will significantly improve the quality of healthcare monitoring whether the patient stays in hospital or stays at home. The information will be collected by a station located in the room or in the hand-held device, and this information sent to doctors or nurses via communication networks. Although devices like pacemakers are meant to be durable, many monitoring devices need to be refreshed at least every two days. Cost therefore must be low. This becomes possible with advanced ultra low-cost, low power CMOS radio links, printed battery cells, and various low cost sensors. Typical monitoring devices could be for example, respiration monitoring, wound bandage monitoring, electrocardiography, and electroencephalography.

The iPack Centre is one of 15 “VINNOVA Centres of Excellence” established within Sweden during 2007 with joint long-term financing (10 years) by industry, society, academia and VINNOVA (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems).

Robotics home assistant Care-O-bot® 3

2009-02-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Photographer Beri Bieber

German Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, IPA, has released a new prototype of its robotics home assistant Care-O-bot 3. The new home assistant is aimed to support people who need care and will remain independent for longer in their familiar surroundings, but may also be used as an enrichment of day-to-day life for everyone.

The first Care-O-bot® prototype was developed as early as 1998 and is capable of moving safely and reliablyin environments frequented by human beings. Care-O-bot® II, constructed in 2002, was capable of manipulating typical household objects, e.g. for the autonomous execution of fetching and taking tasks.

Care-O-bot® 3 is the latest generation of this successful development series. As a future vision of an everyday household product, it combines numerous innovations from the fields of control,
sensors and kinematics.

The big question is, will this "BigBrotherBot" really fit into the home and life of elderly people, who often live in small homes?
Source: http://www.care-o-bot.de/english

Robotic Pedestrian Assistant EU-Project

2009-02-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

An European consortium coordinated by German ALBERT-LUDWIGS-UNIVERSITAET FREIBURG aims to develop the foundations for service robots designed to autonomously navigate in urban environments outdoors as well as in shopping malls and shops to provide various services to users including guidance, delivery, and transportation. The project called European robotic pedestrian assistant (EUROPA) will apply sophisticated probabilistic scene interpretation techniques to deal with the unpredictable and changing environments. Based on data gathered with its sensors, the robot will acquire a detailed model of the environment, detect and track moving objects in the environment, adapt its navigation behaviour according to the current situation and communicate with its users in a natural way, even remotely. EUROPA is targeted at developing novel technologies that will open new perspectives for commercial applications of service robots in the future.

The project will start 2 March 2009 and end 1 March 2012. The project cost is 3, 84 million Euro and is funded by the European Commission (FP7-ICT-231888) with 2.94 million Euro.

Partners: Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg, Germany; University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Switzerland; Bluebotics SA, Switzerland; Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

AAL Helps Keep the Elderly Safe, and at Home

2009-02-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

New York Times reports of the new AAL trend to support elderly people who live alone with new technologies designed to enable them to live independently and avoid expensive trips to the emergency room or nursing homes. New health support devices like wireless sensors, pill compliance detectors and wireless devices that transmit data on blood pressure, weight, oxygen and glucose levels can save lives and money.

One system descibed comes from eNeighbor from US. Healthsense and is backed up of large companies like Intel and General Electric. A wireless sensor under the bed detects when the elderly gets upp. Motion detectors in the bedroom and bathroom register unusual movement pattern and relayed that information to a central monitoring system, prompting a telephon call to to ask if everything is all right. When nobody answers, more calls are done — to a neighbor, to the building manager and finally to 911, which dispatched firefighters to break through her door.

The article refers to user experiences from formal and informal care givers who recognize that eHealth technology will change conditions for health and elderly care and the relation between patients, elderly, doctors, nurses and family members.

AAL Forum 2009 in Vienna, Austria

2009-02-19T05:03:00.000-08:00

29 September - 1 October 2009, Vienna, Austria.
The "AAL forum" will serve as a platform and meeting place for the AAL Joint Programme. Beyond this, the forum will present, discuss and communicate the AAL field in a holistic view including national, regional, European and international aspects.

Innovation and Economic aspects. The economic realisation of AAL needs a strong market. Its framework, the needs and requests of investors and business models will be presented and analysed.
Highlights of AAL activities in regions, member states and Europe. The strong background of national, regional and European activities is presented and discussed.
Scientific aspects of the AAL JP themes within the Joint Programme, focussing on user and interdisciplinary aspects and aspects of the JP (economy, technology).
The Joint Programme itself, its elements and content. The JP is discussing its own state and further development and promoting matchmaking.
Important issues of general relevance of the AAL field (Plenary).

An exhibition will present institutions, companies, projects, activities and actors of AAL. Tutorials for industrial and best practice themes will give the state of the art in AAL.

Emergency alarms for seniors in Kosice, Slovakia

2009-02-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

The Technical University of Kosice (TUK) in Slovakia has started installations of emergency buttons with connected emergency alarms for seniors in Kosice. Provider of the new service is Senior House and the Distress calling centre is run by SOS Red Cross Service in Banska Bystrica.
The installations were made in 3 flats, and concerns 5 users. Further installations will be organised by Senior House in cooperation with the City Council. In case of an emergency, the user pushes the button and automatically an emergency alarm is sent to the emergency centre in Banska Bystrica where the database of clients is kept. The operator immediately contacts the client to investigate his/her needs. The operator then contacts either neighbours or family members or the crisis centre in Kosice to start an appropriate action.
TUK is partner in the EU-project MonAmi aimed to demonstrate that accessible, useful services for elderly and disabled persons living at home can be delivered in mainstream systems and platforms.

Assisted Living Innovations Platform, UK

2009-02-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

The Assisted Living Innovations Platform (ALIP), funded and managed by the Technology Strategy Board, are currently working on nine individual projects throughout the UK and the IET conference Assisted Living 2009 March 24-25, London will provide delegates an update on each. These projects are primarily focussed on the following:

VirtEx - virtual community of connected carers and cared-for
Health hub; user centred design, development and integration with the built environment
Gait Trainer - innovative real time gait training system for people with an abnormal gait
TV-based Video Telephony Platform for Assisted Living and Tele-Health
PEACE - Personal Care Environments delivering support for vulnerable people
Assisting the Elderly and disabled Generation using a behaviour modelling Intelligent System (AEGIS)
An evaluation of the potential benefits of proactive preventative telecare and telehealth systems
NOCTURNAL (Night Optimised Care Technology for UseRs Needing Assisted Lifestyles)
Intelligent Design Engine for Assisted Living Technology (i-DEAL)

Intelligent Walker for Elderly

2009-02-15T14:04:00.001-08:00

A team of researchers from the Departments of Software, Automatic Control, Strength of MaMechanical Engineering, Materials and Structural Engineering at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), led by Ulises Cortés and Antonio B. Martínez, has designed an intelligent walker (i-Walker) that goes a step beyond conventional walkers as it can communicate with the user, think for itself and react to the environment.

The device can understand a set of voice commands and can be activated by means of simple verbal instructions given by the user (e.g., "take me to the kitchen"). To do this, it includes elements for independent movement and a personalized intelligent software agent.

The device is part of the European project Supported Human Autonomy for Recovery and Enhancement of Cognitive and Motor Abilities Using Information Technologies (SHARE-it), led by Ulises Cortés. The project is part of the Sixth Framework Programme and the Information Society Technologies programme, within the area of Ambient Assisted Living.

Ambient Robotics Building

2009-02-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

TechOn reports from Tokyo that Shimizu Corp and Yaskawa Electric Corp have opened the "Smart Showroom" demonstration space as the first step of the "Smart Robotics Building" project, which involves the use of robot technologies in intelligent buildings. The project is aimed at providing various services and comfortable living environment through combination of building infrastructure technologies and robot technologies. Robots will play the roles of receptionist, guide, delivery personnel, cleaners, guards, etc in place of humans.

Workshop on "Robotics and Automation in Assistive Living Systems

2009-02-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

The 2nd International Conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive environments http://www.petrae.org/ June 9-13, 2009 Corfu, Greece

The quality of life of an elderly person can be improved by allowing them to continue living as independently as possible in their own home or apartment. However, some people require assistance in order to maintain some level of autonomy. Assistive living systems are being developed for this purpose and they may consist of a monitoring system, composed of sensors embedded in the environment and computers with programmed logic for identifying events, and a response system, which can include robots to affect or alter the environment. A synergy can be realized as the system, staff, and patient work together to improve the patient's quality of life. This can be achieved to a greater extent if robots are included in the assistive living system. The system's operations involve the use of robot(s) and automation to alter or collect information from the environment when the humans are unable to help themselves or unaware that they need assistance, as in emergencies. However, even mundane situations are considered where robotics and automation can be used to simply make the human more comfortable in their environment. These scenarios can be addressed quickly by robot(s) and/or automation stationed within the home, as opposed to having the system call someone for help.

AAL Call 2 Announced

2009-02-12T00:07:00.000-08:00

The AAL Joint Programme launched call AAL-2009-2: “ICT based solutions for Advancement of Social Interaction of Elderly People”.
- Date of publication: 11 February 2009
- Closure date: 5 May 2009, at 17:00, Central European Time (CET)
- Indicative total funding: 60.9 Mio. € (this amount includes a contribution of up to 23 M€ by the European Commission.)
- Consortia submit one common project proposal, with one partner acting as coordinator.
- Project proposals will be evaluated centrally by independent European experts.
- Selection of proposals will be based on the evaluation and other criteria (see further information in the relevant Call chapters)
- Approval of proposal list selected for funding by the AAL General Assembly in mid 2009
- Funding of individual project partners will be done according to the respective national rules
- Funding decisions by national funding institutions: Expected around November 2009

For more information and contacts to Swedish partners please contact Infonaut.

Assisted Living Robotics

2009-02-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

Assisted Living with robots is a new promising technology field and many ideas and solutions for elderly care and physically impaired people have been developed in recent years. Robots can be used to assit elderly in daily activities such as transportation tasks, in emergency situations and as intelligent communication agent. A robot at home can work as a security agent, handle reminder messages and can work as a proactive mobile video-phone and call relatives by own initiative if needed. Robots can be used as walking aids, guidance systems for the blind (RoboCart) and as home robot systems like the Care-o-bot.

At the The Mobile Robotics Laboratory, University of Orebro, Sweden, an ecological approach to robot-assisted living is studied to provide ubiquitous robotic services in the home to the citizen of the future is studied. Human inhabitants might also be seen as parts of the ecology. The research is focused on the presence and needs of humans who need special assistance, like elderly or disabled persons.

Swedish innovation cluster Robotdalen is supporting research and development of robots for assisting elderly and disabled people. One great exampel is eating aid Bestic a robotic arm with a spoon or pincers at the end. The user controls the movements by means of buttons or joystick or other controls to select food from the plate and move it to the mouth. The user is thus able to eat without external help. See video demonstration here.

Assisted Living Robotics in Sweden

2009-02-10T05:09:00.000-08:00

In the future, more and more people will need assistance but fewer nurses will be available. New technologies may help to overcome this gap. One new promising technology is Assistive Living Robotics, ALR that can support elderly and disabled people to stay at home longer and with remote support from family and caregivers.

The Swedish market is a front runner in adopting new technologies and setting new consumer trends. Products can be tested where there already are demanding customers and high levels of technical sophistication exists.

Swedish Robotdalen, a world-leading business and technology cluster is one of the main research and development supporters. Established 2003 after winning the VINNVÄXT prize awarded by the Swedish Government Agency for Innovation Systems, VINNOVA, Robotdalen has established Health Robotics as one of its core research and development areas and works as national Swedish hub for coordinating and supplying competence and resources in Sweden and interantionally.

One leading partner is the Swedish Institute of Assistive Technology (SIAT), a national resource centre on assistive technology and accessibility for persons with disabilities. SIAT works for full participation and equality for persons with disabilities by ensuring access to high-quality assistive technology, an effective provision of assistive devices and an accessible environment.

SIAT and Robotdalen have established close relations to develop and evaluate the potential of assistive robotics and its application for elderly and impaired people.

Assisted Living in the USA

2009-02-09T00:49:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging describes assisted living facilities as "housing alternatives for older adults who may need help with dressing, bathing, eating, and toileting, but do not require the intensive medical and nursing care
provided in nursing homes."

Assisted living facilities may be part of a retirement community, nursing home, senior housing complex, or may standalone. Licensing requirements for assisted living facilities vary by state and can be known by as many as 26 different names including: residential care, board and care, congregate care, and personal care.

Services and Activities

Residents of assisted living facilities usually have their own units or apartment. In addition to having a support staff and providing meals, most assisted living facilities also offer at least some of the following services:

Health care management and monitoring 24-hour supervision

Three meals a day in a group dining room

Help with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating

Housekeeping and laundry

Medication management, or assistance with self-administration of medicine

Recreational and spiritual activities

Exercise and wellness programs

Security

Transportation

Links

Administration on Aging - http://www.aoa.gov/
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aged - http://www.aahsa.org/

The National Center for Assisted Living ’s Consumer Guide to Assisted Living and Residential Care Facilities - http://www.longtermcareliving.com/

The Assisted Living Federation of America’s Consumer - http://www.alfa.org/

The Consumer Consortium on Assisted Living - http://www.ccal.org/

Center for Excellence in Assisted Living - http://www.theceal.org/

National Center for Assisted Living - http://www.ncal.org/

Virtual Telehealth Visits

2009-02-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

HomeHealth Visiting Nurses is the first home health care organization in Southern Maine providing interactive home telehealth services to its patients. Using innovative and interactive computer technology clinicians provide real-time "video visits" from a central station, thereby enabling patients to see and hear the telehealth nurse through a small, lightweight monitor in their home. Telehealth nurses perform medical assessments, monitor vital signs, evaluate wound status and provide self-care education using special equipment. Telehealth technology can help reduce patient hospitalization and improve the quality of life for chronic care patients.

AAL Research in Europe

2009-01-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

The Fraunhofer Network “Ambient Assisted Living” is a group of six Fraunhofer Institutes to market complete solutions in this area. The solutions offered include a variety of functions to improve the user’s comfort at home and work, or to facilitate social careat home and in nursing homes, and the provision of mobile services.

Another focus is that of rehabilitation, preventive healthcare, and solutions to preserve the independence of persons requiring medical care, daily assistance, or help to overcome physical disabilities.

The Network pursues an approach based on a common system platform which permits seamless integration of diverse solutions and accommodates the evolution of ambient intelligence (AmI) technologies such as communications, power supplies, sensors and actuators. This approach results in smart products that are mutually compatible, suitable for mobile applications, and can be integrated in other types of network on an ad-hoc basis. Link

Remote monitoring can save billions a year

2009-01-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

Remote, home-based physiological monitoring of patients with congestive heart failure can save thousands of dollars per patient per year through fewer hospitalizations, according to a new report. The New England Healthcare Institute, a Cambridge, Mass.-based independent research firm, has updated a report on remote physiological monitoring it published in 2004. The new data estimates an annual cost of $2,052 per patient for the monitoring technology. Add disease management software to the mix, and that price would go up to $2,802.

The return would come from a 60% reduction in hospital readmissions for patients that have standard care and remote monitoring, and a 50% cut in readmissions for patients that participate in a disease management program along with the monitoring, report authors estimate.

They also estimate savings of $3,703 per patient per year for those with remote monitoring and disease management programs, and $5,034 for those with remote monitoring and standard care. Consequently, the technology has the potential to save $4.7 billion to $6.4 billion a year, report authors conclude.

For the full report, "Research Update: Remote Physiological Monitoring," click here.

Personals Attitudes towards Robot Assisted Health Care

2009-01-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

A group of Swedish researchers have examined health care professional's attitudes towards technology involving support from artificial intelligence (AI), robots and humanoids. Within 10-15 years, every third student has to choose occupation within the health care sector to obtain the current personal level, due to the aging population and retirement within the health service sector. The preliminary investigation interviews presented a wide range of activities. These were nursing tasks, service tasks, monitoring/alarms, telemedicine and social communication. First, a five minutes presentation movie was presented. The movie demonstrated expected personal needs in the future and what robots and AI can do today and tomorrow. After this presentation, the 111 respondents, from different representative care institutions, replied on a questionnaire that dealt with selected areas identified above. The questions included different views of robots as supported aids in healthcare. The respondents were overall negative using AI and robot technology related to caring activities. However, all groups were positive in using robots in service tasks, monitoring/alarms, telemedicine and social communication. Of 29 assertions, 18 were mostly positive and 13 of them were over 70 % positive. The frequency of positive and negative attitudes, were similar in the central areas. Within the caring area, a positive robot assisted task requires an interaction (collaboration): caregiver-robot-individual and subsequently, within the nursing area; robot assisted tasks must involve a certain degree of human caring. Link.

Ambient Assisted Living Networking Day

2009-01-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

De Montfort University (DMU), Leicester, UK, is leading an Ambient Assisted Living themed networking event aimed at industry to demonstrate the funding opportunities that are available to support product development and innovation in ambient assistive living technologies (sometimes referred to as telecare or telehealth). Organisations presenting on the day include DMU, Loughborough University, a range of funding bodies and Government organisations. There will be a designated networking area where presenting organisations may exhibit their capabilities and product innovations in Ambient Assisted Living. The event will be held on Friday 20th March 2009, at DMU’s Leicester City Centre Campus (further details will be sent on registration). This event is free of charge and will run from 10am – 3.15pm.

Infoday AAL Call 2

2009-01-30T08:15:00.000-08:00

“ICT based solutions for Advancement of Social Interaction of Elderly People” Call 2 under the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme is currently under preparation. The call will be published soon. A central information day will take place in Brussels on 13 February 2009.
Programme information here.

Germany invests 250 Million EURO in AAL

2009-01-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

Over 500 participants came to Berlin for the second German AAL Congress, January 27-28, an event cooperatedly held by the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Industry Association VDE. Thomas Rachel, State Secretary for BMBF, stated that the Ministry will spend 125 Mio. Euro over the next three years for the development of age-based assisting systems.

The investment will pay off to increase the quality of life of elderly people who can stay longer at home. If only 1 of 10 elderly can stay at home one year longer supported by AAL systems, society can save 3 billion Euro per year. Positive effects will also be accomplished in the care sector by gaining more time for care and social interaction. New technology will be used to increase productivity in care processes and to save money. Important for the success of AAL is the close cooperation between research, politics, end users and industry. The German industry will contribute with 125 million EURO to develop competitive AAL solutions.

55 Million Telehealth Customers 2016

2009-01-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

A new report from InMedica forecasts exceptional growth in the number of telehealth subscribers over the next decade due to the increased use of telehealth services for chronic disease management in professional care in tandem with growth in the consumer driven market for telehealth services. The InMedica report "Opportunities in Telehealth: A Long Term View (2006 to 2016)", forecasts that the total number of telehealth subscribers worldwide will increase to 55.5 million by 2016, representing a forecast CAGR of almost 72%.

The combined factors of ageing global population, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and the increasing public expectation for higher standards of care are all making telehealth services more attractive to patients as well as the healthcare providers. Through regular monitoring and shifting of the treatment of many chronic conditions from medical institutions into patients homes, telehealth will help doctors manage patient care more efficiently. In fact, telehealth initiatives have been heralded as a potential saviour for heavily over-burdened healthcare systems.

While the latest telehealth trials have demonstrated that a well thought out telehealth system can both save costs and improve patient recovery, currently the number of telehealth subscribers is quite small. In fact, according to InMedica the number stood at well under a million in 2008. There are several market barriers that have to date prevented the more widespread use of telehealth, such as the limited choice of telehealth products, the lack of data standards, doubts about data security and the integrity of data transmission and the limited reimbursement for telehealth. However, many of these barriers are now being overcome. For example, recent data standards, such as the Bluetooth SIG Health Device Profile (HDP), USB Personal Healthcare Device Class and the ISO/IEEE 11073, will reduce development costs and speed time to market for manufacturers of wireless home use medical devices. The first implementations of the Bluetooth SIGs HDP are expected to hit the market in 2009.

AAL saves lifes and billions in health care costs

2008-11-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is one of the the most promising healthcare Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) solution areas according to a recent study by ON World a San Diego, CA based market research company. WSN solutions are gearing up to save the healthcare industry $25 billion in 2012 by reducing hospitalizations and extending independent living for seniors, according to ON World.

In 2007, life-saving systems such as ambulatory cardiac monitoring made up the lion’s share of the revenues. However, over the next decade the fastest growing WSN markets will be preventive health and wellness solutions. Governments and industry are working together and investing in technologies such as WSN to address the global $4 trillion dollar healthcare market that is expected to double over the next decade.

AAL Technology enable the elderly to stay independent as long as possible. Additional benefits are that these systems will save millions of dollars annually by avoiding the high cost of institutional care and saving home care workers from unnecessary visits and high gas bills.

WSN technologies such as ZigBee, Z-Wave, and ultra low power WiFi are essential elements of AAL by enabling discreet battery powered sensors to be placed throughout the home. Companies that are currently offering wireless sensor based AAL systems and/or services include CMI/SimplyHome, Grand Care, HealthSense, Living Independently (QuietCare), and Tunstall Group.

Body Sensor Networks (BSNs) consist of wearable or implantable wireless sensors for monitoring vital signs such as heart rate, heart electrical activity (ECG), blood glucose monitoring, and blood oxygen levels. BSNs have the potential to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations as well as improving the rates of recovery and reducing post-operative morbidity. There are dozens of BSN innovations underway by research organizations and commercial companies worldwide that are striving to make these systems more accurate, user-friendly, and comfortable.

Today, wireless BSN systems are available for cardiac monitoring from BioWatch Medical, CardioNet, LifeSync, LifeWatch. In addition, companies such as Alive Technologies, Abbott, Dexcom, LifeScan, Medtronic, and Nonin offer wireless BSN products for diabetes and other chronic disease management applications. Bluetooth has the most support for BSNs with its recently completed Bluetooth Health Device Profile (HDP) and upcoming Bluetooth low energy protocol.

Pervasive Computing for Healthcare The parallel advances of Ambient Assisted Living and Body Sensor Networking has presented the need for advanced middleware software and new standards to provide seamless computing for these heterogeneous systems. For example, a typical home health system may consist of a WiFi home data network, ZigBee or Z-Wave for ambient wireless sensing systems, and Bluetooth or ANT for vital sign monitors. Future at-home health networks will also need to integrate multiple care givers and healthcare practitioners. Organizations and research initiatives that are driving healthcare innovations and standards include CAST, EU’s Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme, and the Continua Health Alliance.

For more information, visit: http://onworld.com/healthcare

Telepaediatric Robot

2008-11-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

eHealth, telemedicine, telecare, telehealth are new terms describing different aspects of ICT applications in healthcare. Today there are many users groups with different backgrounds and special needs involved in the development and use of ICT solutions for healthcare, prevention and wellness. eHealth is an interdisciplinary field in the intersection of a number of different competences as e.g. medicine and caring sciences, medical informatics and engineering, psychology, social sciences, economics, ethics and law. Telehealth is about delivery of health services at a distance, using a range of communication techniques, such as email, videoconferencing and the Internet. Telecare is about delivery of health services to patients in their own home including electronic monitoring and supervision of patients.

One of the leading eHealth Centres in the world is The Centre for Online Health at the University of Queensland. COH is one of very few research and teaching centres in the world which focus on the evaluation of telehealth for the delivery of health services. Specific areas of expertise include telepaediatrics, teledermatology, and tele-homecare. Current areas of interest include ENT, home palliative care, neurology, retinal screening, automatic email message handling and tele-geriatrics.

The COH has developed a telemedicine system which is mobile and wireless, allowing the unit to be easily transported directly to the bedside of patients when a specialist consultation is required. To suit the context of this application (i.e. paediatrics) the mobile units have been built in the shape of an telepaediatric robot. The robot provides general paediatric support for hospitals without a local paediatrician and/or sub-specialist paediatric support and professional education and support for regional clinicians.

Intel Telehealth Computer

2008-11-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

American giant Intel has developed a new telehealth solution for elderly and their monitoring care suppliers. The Intel Health Guide PHS 6000 is a PC customized to monitor vital signs and deliver health services to elderly patients managing chronic health conditions. Based on an Intel motherboard, the system is designed to be simple enough for technophobic users but robust enough to have received FDA Type 2 certification in August, a first for the company.

Patients can measure vital data by themself and communicate with their doctor by videophone. The 4 kg has a 10,4" touch screen, microphone, camera, speaker and a 40GB harddisk. Care personnel can call the patient to examine a health controll. When its time the health computer sound and light up. The patient can also get access to video information. Care suppliers can monitor patients ranked after risk level and focus on most risky people.

The American home care market is valued to US$ 15 billion per year and the emerging field of remote health care expected to reach $5 billion in 2010 and explode to $34 billion by 2015 according to Forrester Research.

Paro Robot Seal Healing Pet

2008-11-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

The social and healing effect of animals for sick elderly is well known and often used to break social isolation and lonelyness. Researchers in Japan have developed Paro, the most interactive "healing pet" made to date, designed to be used for animal therapy without needing actual animals that require special attention. It learns from users and is truly an interactive pet in its responses as well. Paro is modeled on a baby seal, and totally fits the part! It's incredibly soft and lifelike, has an array of sensors, and develops a personality over time that corresponds with how people play with Paro.

Paro has a diurnal rythym of morning, afternoon, and night, five kinds of sensors (tactile, light, audition, temperature, and posture), can recognize light and dark, can feel being stroked and the amount of pressure. Paro understands when it is being held, it can recognize the direction of sound, recognizes its name, greetings, and praise. It remembers interactions and adapts, imitates the voice of a real baby seal and expresses feelings though noises, body movements, and facial expressions.

Retail price: $5,335 (in Japan)

Assistive Technology for Computer Users

2008-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

Do you have problems to see, hear, and use your computer? You are not alone. Two-thirds of 50+ have vision, hearing, or dexterity impairments that will impact the use of the computer.

If you are a Windows user, try the built-in bifocals, called Magnifier. It opens a floating window that magnifies a portion of the screen—just like a magnifying glass or pair of bifocals. Internet Explorer 7 has many options to make the Internet easier to see and explore. Try zooming in on a Web page to magnify text, images, and controls.

If you have difficulty hearing videos or other computer sounds, try cranking up the volume. Using headphones can help block out background noise.

Assistive Technology Products:
Alternative input devices allow individuals to control their computers through means other than a standard keyboard or pointing device. Here are some examples:

Alternative keyboards with larger or smaller-than-standard keys or keyboards, alternative key configurations, keyboards for one hand use
On-screen keyboards On-screen keyboards
Electronic pointing devices
Devices used include ultrasound, infrared beams, eye movements, nerve signals, or brain waves
Sip-and-puff systems
Wands and sticks
Joysticks
Trackballs
Touch screens

There are also many output tools supporting users with impairments.

Braille embossers
Reading tools and learning disabilities programs
Screen readers
Speech recognition or voice recognition programs
Text-to-Speech (TTS) or speech synthesizers
Talking and large-print word processors
TTY/TDD conversion modems

For more tips visit Microsoft Accessibility Page.

Telemedicin safes life and money

2008-11-09T12:10:00.001-08:00

With an aging population, hypertension (high blood pressure) and cardio-vascular diseases (CVD) are major epidemics that significantly reduce quality of life and life expectancy on a global basis, afflicting approximately 25% of all adults, and more half of those older than 60. More and more people with chronic conditions, people at high risk, or the elderly will need support to participate in their own care, in close collaboration with their caregivers.

Telemedicin is new solution to connect patients with healthcare providers any time any place. Patients conduct medical tests in the comfort of their own home and the results are transmitted through telephone lines. Healthcare providers use telemedicine in order to improve quality of care and patient access to specialists, to facilitate early discharge from hospitals, to reduce transportation expenses and increase cost efficiency. The use of telemedicine enhances communication between patients and health care providers and simplifies the delivery of health care services.

Award winning Aerotel, (1) a world leader in cost-effective, high quality, transtelephonic telemedicin systeme, offers a complete system for patient monitoring consisting of medical call center software and compact, reliable, transtelephonic and digital monitoring devices that effectively transfer vital medical or lifestyle data over the telephone, the Internet or wireless networks. A modular monitoring systems transmitts ECG, blood pressure values, blood glucose level, pulse oximeter, weight, or other vital sign data reliably to a monitoring center enabling accurate diagnosis. The patient information and the transmitted data can be viewed locally or via the Internet.

(1) Aerotel won the "Patient Monitoring Company of the Year Award 2006" and the "Innovation and Growth Strategy Leadership of the Year Award 2007" by Frost & Sullivan.

Independent living with assistive technologies

2008-11-09T05:53:00.000-08:00

Smart Technology for Aging, Disability, and Independence: The State of the Science by Willioam C. Mann, WileyBlackwell 2005, is an in–depth overview of the current development and future trends on assistive technologies and ow its applications can promote continuing independence for older persons and those with disabilities. Leading experts from multiple disciplines worldwide have contributed to this volume, making it the definitive resource. The text begins with a thorough introduction that presents important concepts, defines key terms, and identifies demographic trends at work. Using detailed product descriptions, photographs and illustrations, and case studies, subsequent chapters discuss cutting-edge technologies, including:

Wearable systems
Human-computer interactions
Assisted vision and hearing
Smart wheelchairs
Handheld devices and smart phones
Visual sensors
Home automation
Assistive robotics
In-room monitoring systems
Telehealth

The author examines specific high-technology solutions, recent trends in other critical areas, such as basic assistive technologies, driving, transportation and community mobility, home modifications and design, and changing standards of elder care.

Robot assisted walking for workers and elderly

2008-11-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

The need for assisting technology is expected to grow in Japan, which has one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world. Three japanese companies are leading the development of robot assisted walkers, Honda, Toyota and Cyberdyne.

Honda unveilled November 07, 2008 a new wearable assisted-walking device designed to support bodyweight, reduce stress on the knees and help people get up steps and stay in crouching positions. The assisted walker can be used by workers at auto or other factories. Honda showed a video of Honda employees wearing the device and bending to peer underneath vehicles on an assembly line. The robot walke is useful for people standing in long lines and for people who run around to make deliveries.

The system has a computer, motor, gears, battery and sensors embedded in it so it responds to a person's movements, according to Honda Motor Co. Pricing and commercial product plans are still undecided. Honda will begin testing a prototype with its assembly line workers later this month for feedback.

In August Honda has shown a similar but simpler belted device. It has motors on the left and right, which hook up to frames that strap at the thighs, helping the walker maintain a proper stride. That device, being tested at one Japanese facility, helps rehabilitation programs for the disabled, encouraging them to take steps.

Toyota Motor Corp. unveild in August 2008 a Segway-like personal transport assistance robot (PTAR) meant for old people. Designed to contribute to society by helping people enjoy a safe and fully mobile life, the PTAR is a compact next-generation everyday transport tool that offers advanced ease of use and expands the user's range of mobility.

Japanese robot company Cyberdyne has begun renting out in Japan a belted device called HAL, for "hybrid assistive limb," that reads brain signals to help people move about with mechanical leg braces that strap to the legs.

eHealth in Denmark

2008-11-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Denmark is one of the leading eHealth nations in Europe. Since 1977 a unique patient identifier and a national patient registry are in use and Denmark has invested in secure infrastructure with PKI/digital signature, a healthcare information network, established in 1994 and now 97% coverage. In 2003 a general e-health portal was established with the overall goal to

bring together future electronic communication between patients and the health care service.
function as a communication tool for the stakeholders of the health care service.
give citizens and/or patients an overview of the organization of the health care service and information related to the use of the health care service; and support the patient in attending to his own health and his health care situation.
put expert information at the disposal of health care professionals.

Multipe projects have been started in disease management, targeting chronic patients and in wellness management, targeting general population health as part of the e-health portal.

The Centre for Pervasive Healthcare was established in 2002 and covers the application of ubiquitous computing technology (pervasive computing) to support healthcare services. Pervasive Healthcare is based on user-driven innovation, and the ideas of the users of healthcare services (staff, patients and citizens) constitute the nucleus of the effort.

Interactive Healthcare via Internet

2008-11-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

Internactive health care at home is a new approach that can help patients and their families to get their chronic condition safely monitored, in coordination with the patient's care team. An interactive healthcare solution can reduce the workload required to administer personalized disease management programs across broader patient populations. Healthcare costs an be reduces by remote monitoring and leads to fewer admissions and shorter hospital stays. Multimedia information services can suppport patient self-care and behaviour change.

One of the large players in telehealth is Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. For over seven years, Philips' award-winning telemonitoring devices enables disease management firms, home care agencies and healthcare providers to remotely monitor chronic disease patients in their homes. Clinicians can monitor vital signs and send patients short health status surveys to make more timely care decisions and help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations.

Philips Medical Systems has developed an interactive healthcare platform called Motiva that connects patients with chronic conditions, e.g. (Chronic) Heart Failure, Diabetes Mellitus, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), to their healthcare providers – via the home television and a broadband internet connection. Motiva automates disease management activities, and engages patients with personalized daily interactions and education delivered through the home television. The system enables healthcare providers to motivate behavior change through user-friendly technology, helping them meet goals for improved patient compliance, telehealth program efficiency, and lower healthcare costs.

Philips Medical Systems now has estimated annual sales of Euro 6.0 billion and employs approximately 31,000 people in more than 63 countries.

Telerobotic Shopping

2008-11-08T04:32:00.000-08:00

A prototype of the telerobotic shopper based on a TMSUK-4 humanoid robot was demonstrated on July 10 at the Izutsuya department store in the city of Kitakyushu, Japan. The remote-control robot was demonstraded by an unwell grandmother unable to go shopping with her granddaughter sent the robot in her place. Using an NTT DoCoMo video-capable cellphone, the grandmother was able to control the robot and enjoy the shopping experience through the robot’s camera eyes. The woman maneuvered the robot to the hat section, eyed what was available on the shelf, and had her granddaughter model a few for her before deciding which one to purchase. According to tmsuk, this innovative type of “3D communications” technology brings us a step closer to a future in which telerobotic shoppers roam the fashionable areas of cities like New York or London.
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Posted By Infonaut AB to Robotland at 11/08/2008 11:58:00 AM

Foresight in Time

2008-11-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my weblog about Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), a new concept to support people with intelligent technology. A wide range of services and products is developed to enhance and prolong personal freedom, autonomy and individual independence.

The central idea is to design a network of sensitive and reactive devices which collects and processes information from various sensors enabling a functional effect on the surrounding environment and its users. The intelligent environment becomes an invisible, interactive aid for its users.

The target group encompasses people in all work and leisure life situations, especially the elderly living alone and/or people with disabilities. Today we are about 67 million people living in Europe aged 65 years or more. In 2030 there will be 97 million. A very large group of people that can work together to find, develop och use better solutions for a good life.

Thematic areas of AAL are: home care, safety, security and privacy, supply with goods and chores, health & wellness, social interaction, mobility, working life, information & learing, hobbies.

Here you can find news, reports, information about new solutions, products and services that can make your life easier, safer, more convenient, today or in the future.

If you have ideas, solutions or questions, please contribute or contact us.