technology
What are some of the challenges that
arise when trying to implement home
monitoring systems?
From a technical perspective, there
is avoiding interference between the
sensors, so we are working on all those
technical challenges.
One of the sensors I love the most [is
the one we have to] detect whether you
are activating the TV clicker. That is a real
challenge because people sit in the lounge
room watching TV and they are relatively
motionless – so you don’t want to raise an
alert when somebody’s quietly watching TV.
From a social perspective, there are
acceptance challenges; people may be a bit
wary about having the sensors in the house,
even though they’re non-intrusive. A survey
at the beginning of the project, in which we
questioned patients and carers, revealed
arguments and tension between what the
patient wanted to disclose and what the
carers and family members wanted to know.
So accommodating these different
requirements is another challenge. The
other big one is the outdoors – what
happens if somebody falls in the backyard?
So we have to think about that.
Sensory
logic
What would be next for the project after
the sensors are implemented?
Discreet monitors keep tabs on
people around the home and
watch for alarming changes
in behaviour patterns.
Ingrid Zukerman interviewed
by Dallas Bastian
A
n Australian research team is
working on a non-intrusive home
monitoring device that sends alerts
to carers when loved ones are inactive for
abnormally long periods of time.
The monitors are housed in boxes the
shape of a small book and plug into power
points in commonly used areas of a house.
The sensors in the device detect motion,
vibration, light and temperature, amongst
other things.
Professor Ingrid Zukerman, who is part of
the team from Monash University working
on the device, sat down with Aged Care
Insite to discuss how such technology can
help with the monitoring of people’s safety
and movement, as well as potentially help to
identify, diagnose and track a few surprising
clinical conditions.
36 agedcareinsite.com.au
ACI: What does this device look like and
what can it do?
IZ: The device is actually a set of devices.
They look like a small box and they are
plugged into the power point and you
would put one in each room in the house.
They have a bunch of sensors within.
These include for temperature, humidity,
vibration and passive infrared motion
(PIR). PIR is the type of sensor you have
in burglar alarm systems that detect if
somebody’s moving in the home.
These sensors collect data about
the normal behaviour patterns of the
person over time, and after a relatively
short period – say a month – a statistical
model can be built of the behaviour of
the person, and any significant departures
from this are noted.
We have received an additional grant
from the government for the next stage,
in which we will aim to detect functional
decline and the onset of illness.
Functional decline would be something
like a person with mild cognitive
impairment getting increasingly [worse],
and that is detectable through alterations in
their patterns of movement throughout the
home. For example, people who don’t have
dementia, they go – for example – from
their lounge room, study or dining room
to the service areas like the kitchen or
bathroom, and then they come back.
As people develop dementia, they start
going to a place, forgetting what they
came for, coming back, going again,
forgetting what they came for, coming
back – so you see these patterns.
You also see patterns of being awake at
night, doing unusual activities at night like
running a washing machine. With respect
to the onset of illness, increased visits to
the toilet or markedly decreased visits
to the toilet could be indications of urinary
tract infections, for example. Slower
mobility throughout the house might
indicate an injury. Getting out of bed
later, or not getting out of bed, would
indicate depression, which is common in
the elderly. ■