July 2003

Monitoring Mom

Continued from page 1

By Gregory T. Huang

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

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

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

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

Sampling of Companies in Elderly Home-Monitoring COMPANY TECHNOLOGY GE Industrial Systems
(Plainville, CT) Low-cost wireless sensing system that caregivers can access Honeywell Laboratories
(Minneapolis, MN) Motion sensors and software that learns daily patterns of behavior in homes Intel Research
(Hillsboro, OR) Radio chips that track activity and software that detects cognitive decline Matsushita Electric Works
(Osaka, Japan) Interactive robot pets and advanced sensors to assist elderly nursing-home patients Motorola's iDEN Subscriber Group (Plantation, FL) Smart cell phones that give reminders or directions and relay vital signs to caregivers