Low-cost, email-based system for self blood pressure monitoring at home.

PubMed

Nakajima, Kazuki; Nambu, Masayuki; Kiryu, Tohru; Tamura, Toshiyo; Sasaki, Kazuo

2006-01-01

We have developed a low-cost monitoring system, which allows subjects to send blood pressure (BP) data obtained at home to health-care professionals by email. The system consists of a wrist BP monitor and a personal computer (PC) with an Internet connection. The wrist BP monitor includes an advanced positioning sensor to verify that the wrist is placed properly at heart level. Subjects at home can self-measure their BP every day, automatically transfer the BP data to their PC each week, and then send a comma-separated values (CSV) file to their health-care professional by email. In a feasibility study, 10 subjects used the system for a mean period of 207 days (SD 149). The mean percent achievement of measurement in the 10 subjects was 84% (SD 12). There was a seasonal variation in systolic and diastolic BP, which was inversely correlated with temperature. Eight of the 10 subjects evaluated the system favourably. The results of the present study demonstrate the feasibility of our email-based system for self-monitoring of blood pressure. Its low cost means that it may have widespread application in future home telecare studies.

CareWatch: A Home Monitoring System for Use in Homes of Persons With Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Rowe, Meredeth; Lane, Stephen; Phipps, Chad

2010-01-01

Currently, informal caregivers provide the bulk of care for persons with cognitive impairment who live in the home, often at significant cost in terms of their own physical, mental, and emotional health. This is a report of the development of a home monitoring system, CareWatch, designed for use in homes of persons with cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease. The purpose of CareWatch is to prevent unattended home exits, particularly during the night, and to improve caregiver sleep. We report on the development of CareWatch and on 2 clinical trials underway to test its effectiveness in the home setting. PMID:20454554

Integrity mechanism for eHealth tele-monitoring system in smart home environment.

PubMed

Mantas, Georgios; Lymberopoulos, Dimitrios; Komninos, Nikos

2009-01-01

During the past few years, a lot of effort has been invested in research and development of eHealth tele-monitoring systems that will provide many benefits for healthcare delivery from the healthcare provider to the patient's home. However, there is a plethora of security requirements in eHealth tele-monitoring systems. Data integrity of the transferred medical data is one of the most important security requirements that should be satisfied in these systems, since medical information is extremely sensitive information, and even sometimes life threatening information. In this paper, we present a data integrity mechanism for eHealth tele-monitoring system that operates in a smart home environment. Agent technology is applied to achieve data integrity with the use of cryptographic smart cards. Furthermore, the overall security infrastructure and its various components are described.

A Context-Aware Indoor Air Quality System for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention.

PubMed

De La Iglesia, Daniel H; De Paz, Juan F; Villarrubia González, Gabriel; Barriuso, Alberto L; Bajo, Javier

2018-03-02

Context-aware monitoring systems designed for e-Health solutions and ambient assisted living (AAL) play an important role in today's personalized health-care services. The majority of these systems are intended for the monitoring of patients' vital signs by means of bio-sensors. At present, there are very few systems that monitor environmental conditions and air quality in the homes of users. A home's environmental conditions can have a significant influence on the state of the health of its residents. Monitoring the environment is the key to preventing possible diseases caused by conditions that do not favor health. This paper presents a context-aware system that monitors air quality to prevent a specific health problem at home. The aim of this system is to reduce the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is triggered mainly by environmental factors. In the conducted case study, the system monitored the state of the neonate and the quality of air while it was asleep. The designed proposal is characterized by its low cost and non-intrusive nature. The results are promising.

An Automated Web Diary System for TeleHomeCare Patient Monitoring

PubMed Central

Ganzinger, Matthias; Demiris, George; Finkelstein, Stanley M.; Speedie, Stuart; Lundgren, Jan Marie

2001-01-01

The TeleHomeCare project monitors home care patients via the Internet. Each patient has a personalized homepage with an electronic diary for collecting the monitoring data with HTML forms. The web pages are generated dynamically using PHP. All data are stored in a MySQL database. Data are checked immediately by the system; if a value exceeds a predefined limit an alarm message is generated and sent automatically to the patient's case manager. Weekly graphical reports (PDF format) are also generated and sent by email to the same destination.

Development of radar-based system for monitoring of frail home-dwelling persons: A healthcare perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudmann, Tobba T.; Børsheim, Ingebjørg T.; Øvsthus, Knut; Ciamulski, Tomasz; Miękina, Andrzej; Wagner, Jakub; Mazurek, Paweł; Jacobsen, Frode F.

2016-11-01

This interdisciplinary project aims to develop and assess the functional potential of radar technology in the care services. The project mainly has an exploratory character where the technological and functional potential of impulse-radar sensor are tested out in monitoring of elderly and disabled people living in their own home. Designing a non-invasive system for monitoring of movements of frail persons living at home is the main goal, with the intent of assessing health and functional status through monitoring of activities of daily life (ADL) and detecting potentially dangerous situations, not the least related to a long lie following falls.

Randomized trial of the ForeseeHome monitoring device for early detection of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. The HOme Monitoring of the Eye (HOME) study design - HOME Study report number 1.

PubMed

Chew, Emily Y; Clemons, Traci E; Bressler, Susan B; Elman, Michael J; Danis, Ronald P; Domalpally, Amitha; Heier, Jeffrey S; Kim, Judy E; Garfinkel, Richard A

2014-03-01

To evaluate the effects of a home-monitoring device with tele-monitoring compared with standard care in detection of progression to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the US. Participants, aged 55 to 90 years, at high risk of developing CNV associated with AMD were recruited to the HOme Monitoring of Eye (HOME) Study, an unmasked, multi-center, randomized trial of the ForeseeHome (FH) device plus standard care vs. standard care alone. The FH device utilizes preferential hyperacuity perimetry and tele-monitoring to detect changes in vision function associated with development of CNV, potentially prior to symptom and visual acuity loss. After establishing baseline measurements, subsequent changes on follow-up are detected by the device, causing the monitoring center to alert the clinical center to recall participants for an exam. Standard care consists of instructions for self-monitoring visual changes with subsequent self-report to the clinical center. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether home monitoring plus standard care in comparison with standard care alone, results in earlier detection of incident CNV with better present visual acuity. The primary outcome is the decline in visual acuity at CNV diagnosis from baseline. Detection of CNV prior to substantial vision loss is critical as vision outcome following anti-angiogenic therapy is dependent on the visual acuity at initiation of treatment. HOME Study is the first large scale study to test the use of home tele-monitoring system in the management of AMD patients. Published by Elsevier Inc.

To track or not to track: user reactions to concepts in longitudinal health monitoring.

PubMed

Beaudin, Jennifer S; Intille, Stephen S; Morris, Margaret E

2006-01-01

Advances in ubiquitous computing, smart homes, and sensor technologies enable novel, longitudinal health monitoring applications in the home. Many home monitoring technologies have been proposed to detect health crises, support aging-in-place, and improve medical care. Health professionals and potential end users in the lay public, however, sometimes question whether home health monitoring is justified given the cost and potential invasion of privacy. The aim of the study was to elicit specific feedback from health professionals and laypeople about how they might use longitudinal health monitoring data for proactive health and well-being. Interviews were conducted with 8 health professionals and 26 laypeople. Participants were asked to evaluate mock data visualization displays that could be generated by novel home monitoring systems. The mock displays were used to elicit reactions to longitudinal monitoring in the home setting as well as what behaviors, events, and physiological indicators people were interested in tracking. Based on the qualitative data provided by the interviews, lists of benefits of and concerns about health tracking from the perspectives of the practitioners and laypeople were compiled. Variables of particular interest to the interviewees, as well as their specific ideas for applications of collected data, were documented. Based upon these interviews, we recommend that ubiquitous "monitoring" systems may be more readily adopted if they are developed as tools for personalized, longitudinal self-investigation that help end users learn about the conditions and variables that impact their social, cognitive, and physical health.

Reducing Dangerous Nighttime Events in Persons with Dementia Using a Nighttime Monitoring System

PubMed Central

Rowe, Meredeth A.; Kelly, Annette; Horne, Claydell; Lane, Steve; Campbell, Judy; Lehman, Brandy; Phipps, Chad; Keller, Meredith; Benito, Andrea Pe

2009-01-01

Background Nighttime activity, a common occurrence in persons with dementia, increases the risk for injury and unattended home exits, and impairs the sleep patterns of caregivers. Technology is needed that will alert caregivers of nighttime activity in persons with dementia to help prevent injuries and unattended exits. Methods As part of a product development grant, a randomized pilot study was conducted to test the effectiveness of a new night monitoring system designed for informal caregivers to use in the home. Data from 53 subjects were collected at 9 points in time over a 12-month period regarding injuries and unattended home exits that occurred while the caregiver slept. Nighttime activity frequently resulted in nursing home placement. Results The night monitoring system proved a reliable adjunct to assist caregivers in managing nighttime activity. A total of 9 events (injuries or unattended home exits) occurred during the study with 6 events occurring in the control group. Using intent-to-treat analysis, there was no difference between the groups. However, in a secondary analysis based on use of the intervention, experimental subjects were 85% less likely to sustain an event than control subjects. Conclusion When nighttime activity occurred, it resulted in severe injuries sometimes associated with subsequent nursing home placement. The night monitoring system represents a new technology that caregivers can use to assist them in preventing nighttime injuries and unattended home exits in care recipients with dementia. PMID:19751921

Automated acquisition system for routine, noninvasive monitoring of physiological data.

PubMed

Ogawa, M; Tamura, T; Togawa, T

1998-01-01

A fully automated, noninvasive data-acquisition system was developed to permit long-term measurement of physiological functions at home, without disturbing subjects' normal routines. The system consists of unconstrained monitors built into furnishings and structures in a home environment. An electrocardiographic (ECG) monitor in the bathtub measures heart function during bathing, a temperature monitor in the bed measures body temperature, and a weight monitor built into the toilet serves as a scale to record weight. All three monitors are connected to one computer and function with data-acquisition programs and a data format rule. The unconstrained physiological parameter monitors and fully automated measurement procedures collect data noninvasively without the subject's awareness. The system was tested for 1 week by a healthy male subject, aged 28, in laboratory-based facilities.

Using Bayesian Networks and Decision Theory to Model Physical Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-02-01

Home automation technologies allow a person to monitor and control various activities within a home or office setting. Cameras, sensors and other...components used along with the simple rules in the home automation software provide an environment where the lights, security and other appliances can be...monitored and controlled. These home automation technologies, however, lack the power to reason under uncertain conditions and thus the system can

Multimodal activity monitoring for home rehabilitation of geriatric fracture patients--feasibility and acceptance of sensor systems in the GAL-NATARS study.

PubMed

Marschollek, Michael; Becker, Marcus; Bauer, Jürgen M; Bente, Petra; Dasenbrock, Lena; Elbers, Katharina; Hein, Andreas; Kolb, Gerald; Künemund, Harald; Lammel-Polchau, Christopher; Meis, Markus; Meyer Zu Schwabedissen, Hubertus; Remmers, Hartmut; Schulze, Mareike; Steen, Enno-Edzard; Thoben, Wilfried; Wang, Ju; Wolf, Klaus-Hendrik; Haux, Reinhold

2014-01-01

Demographic change will lead to a diminishing care workforce faced with rising numbers of older persons in need of care, suggesting meaningful use of health-enabling technologies, and home monitoring in particular, to contribute to supporting both the carers and the persons in need. We present and discuss the GAL-NATARS study design along with first results regarding technical feasibility of long-term home monitoring and acceptance of different sensor modalities. Fourteen geriatric participants with mobility-impairing fractures were recruited in three geriatric clinics. Following inpatient geriatric rehabilitation, their homes were equipped with ambient sensor components for three months. Additionally, a wearable accelerometer was employed. Technical feasibility was assessed by system and component downtimes, technology acceptance by face-to-face interviews. The overall system downtime was 6%, effected by two single events, but not by software failures. Technology acceptance was rated very high by all participants at the end of the monitoring periods, and no interference with their social lives was reported. Home-monitoring technologies were well-accepted by our participants. The information content of the data still needs to be evaluated with regard to clinical outcome parameters as well as the effect on the quality of life before recommending large-scale implementations.

SymptomCare@Home: Developing an Integrated Symptom Monitoring and Management System for Outpatients Receiving Chemotherapy.

PubMed

Beck, Susan L; Eaton, Linda H; Echeverria, Christina; Mooney, Kathi H

2017-10-01

SymptomCare@Home, an integrated symptom monitoring and management system, was designed as part of randomized clinical trials to help patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy in ambulatory clinics and often experience significant symptoms at home. An iterative design process was informed by chronic disease management theory and features of assessment and clinical decision support systems used in other diseases. Key stakeholders participated in the design process: nurse scientists, clinical experts, bioinformatics experts, and computer programmers. Especially important was input from end users, patients, and nurse practitioners participating in a series of studies testing the system. The system includes both a patient and clinician interface and fully integrates two electronic subsystems: a telephone computer-linked interactive voice response system and a Web-based Decision Support-Symptom Management System. Key features include (1) daily symptom monitoring, (2) self-management coaching, (3) alerting, and (4) nurse practitioner follow-up. The nurse practitioner is distinctively positioned to provide assessment, education, support, and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions to intensify management of poorly controlled symptoms at home. SymptomCare@Home is a model for providing telehealth. The system facilitates using evidence-based guidelines as part of a comprehensive symptom management approach. The design process and system features can be applied to other diseases and conditions.

UWB Monitoring System for AAL Applications

PubMed Central

Kolakowski, Jerzy

2017-01-01

Independent living of elderly persons in their homes requires support that can be provided with modern assistive technologies. Monitoring of elderly persons behaviour delivers valuable information that can be used for diagnosis and detection of health problems as well as triggering alerts in emergency situations. The paper includes a description of the ultra wideband system developed within Networked InfrasTructure for Innovative home Care Solutions (NITICS) Active and Assisted Living (AAL) project. The system can be used as a component of AAL platforms. It delivers data on users localization and has a fall detector functionality. The system also provides access to raw measurement results from Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors embedded in the device worn by the monitored person. These data can be used in solutions intended for elderly person’s behaviour investigation. The system was investigated under laboratory conditions as well as in home environment. The detailed system description and results of performed tests are included in the article. PMID:28895917

The Development of a Portable ECG Monitor Based on DSP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nan, CHI Jian; Tao, YAN Yan; Meng Chen, LIU; Li, YANG

With the advent of global information, researches of Smart Home system are in the ascendant, the ECG real-time detection, and wireless transmission of ECG become more useful. In order to achieve the purpose we developed a portable ECG monitor which achieves the purpose of cardiac disease remote monitoring, and will be used in the physical and psychological disease surveillance in smart home system, we developed this portable ECG Monitor, based on the analysis of existing ECG Monitor, using TMS320F2812 as the core controller, which complete the signal collection, storage, processing, waveform display and transmission.

A total patient monitoring system for point-of-care applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitchurch, Ashwin K.; Abraham, Jose K.; Varadan, Vijay K.

2007-04-01

Traditionally, home care for chronically ill patients and the elderly requires periodic visits to the patient's home by doctors or healthcare personnel. During these visits, the visiting person usually records the patient's vital signs and takes decisions as to any change in treatment and address any issues that the patient may have. Patient monitoring systems have since changed this scenario by significantly reducing the number of home visits while not compromising on continuous monitoring. This paper describes the design and development of a patient monitoring systems capable of concurrent remote monitoring of 8 patient-worn sensors: Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electrocardiogram (ECG), temperature, airflow pressure, movement and chest expansion. These sensors provide vital signs useful for monitoring the health of chronically ill patients and alerts can be raised if certain specified signal levels fall above or below a preset threshold value. The data from all eight sensors are digitally transmitted to a PC or to a standalone network appliance which relays the data through an available internet connection to the remote monitoring client. Thus it provides a real-time rendering of the patient's health at a remote location.

HOME - An application of fault-tolerant techniques and system self-testing. [independent computer for helicopter flight control command monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holden, D. G.

1975-01-01

Hard Over Monitoring Equipment (HOME) has been designed to complement and enhance the flight safety of a flight research helicopter. HOME is an independent, highly reliable, and fail-safe special purpose computer that monitors the flight control commands issued by the flight control computer of the helicopter. In particular, HOME detects the issuance of a hazardous hard-over command for any of the four flight control axes and transfers the control of the helicopter to the flight safety pilot. The design of HOME incorporates certain reliability and fail-safe enhancement design features, such as triple modular redundancy, majority logic voting, fail-safe dual circuits, independent status monitors, in-flight self-test, and a built-in preflight exerciser. The HOME design and operation is described with special emphasis on the reliability and fail-safe aspects of the design.

Smartphone home monitoring of ECG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szu, Harold; Hsu, Charles; Moon, Gyu; Landa, Joseph; Nakajima, Hiroshi; Hata, Yutaka

2012-06-01

A system of ambulatory, halter, electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring system has already been commercially available for recording and transmitting heartbeats data by the Internet. However, it enjoys the confidence with a reservation and thus a limited market penetration, our system was targeting at aging global villagers having an increasingly biomedical wellness (BMW) homecare needs, not hospital related BMI (biomedical illness). It was designed within SWaP-C (Size, Weight, and Power, Cost) using 3 innovative modules: (i) Smart Electrode (lowpower mixed signal embedded with modern compressive sensing and nanotechnology to improve the electrodes' contact impedance); (ii) Learnable Database (in terms of adaptive wavelets transform QRST feature extraction, Sequential Query Relational database allowing home care monitoring retrievable Aided Target Recognition); (iii) Smartphone (touch screen interface, powerful computation capability, caretaker reporting with GPI, ID, and patient panic button for programmable emergence procedure). It can provide a supplementary home screening system for the post or the pre-diagnosis care at home with a build-in database searchable with the time, the place, and the degree of urgency happened, using in-situ screening.

Monitoring and detection platform to prevent anomalous situations in home care.

PubMed

Villarrubia, Gabriel; Bajo, Javier; De Paz, Juan F; Corchado, Juan M

2014-06-05

Monitoring and tracking people at home usually requires high cost hardware installations, which implies they are not affordable in many situations. This study/paper proposes a monitoring and tracking system for people with medical problems. A virtual organization of agents based on the PANGEA platform, which allows the easy integration of different devices, was created for this study. In this case, a virtual organization was implemented to track and monitor patients carrying a Holter monitor. The system includes the hardware and software required to perform: ECG measurements, monitoring through accelerometers and WiFi networks. Furthermore, the use of interactive television can moderate interactivity with the user. The system makes it possible to merge the information and facilitates patient tracking efficiently with low cost.

Ambient Intelligence in a Smart Home for Energy Efficiency and Eldercare

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Silva, Liyanage C.; Petra, M. Iskandar; Punchihewa, G. Amal

In this paper we present our research results related to smart monitoring, control and communication with the main objective of energy efficiency and eldercare in mind. One of the main objectives of this research work is to use multitude of different sensors to monitor activities in a smart home and use the results to control the home environment to meet the objectives of energy efficiency and eldercare. Here we present the application of the smart monitoring to a prototype system.

System Security And Monitoring On Smart Home Using Android

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romadhon, A. S.

2018-01-01

Home security system is needed for homeowners who have a lot of activities, as a result, they often leave the house without locking the door and even leave the house in a state of lights that are not lit. In order to overcome this case, a system that can control and can monitor the state of the various devices contained in the house or smart home system is urgently required. The working principle of this smart home using android is when the homeowner sends a certain command using android, the command will be forwarded to the microcontroller and then it will be executed based on the parameters that have been determined. For example, it can turn off and on the light using android app. In this study, testing was conducted to a smart home prototype which is equipped with light bulbs, odour sensors, heat sensors, ultrasonic sensors, LDR, buzzer and camera. The test results indicate that the application has been able to control all the sensors of home appliances well.

Enabling active and healthy ageing decision support systems with the smart collection of TV usage patterns

PubMed Central

Billis, Antonis S.; Batziakas, Asterios; Bratsas, Charalampos; Tsatali, Marianna S.; Karagianni, Maria

2016-01-01

Smart monitoring of seniors behavioural patterns and more specifically activities of daily living have attracted immense research interest in recent years. Development of smart decision support systems to support the promotion of health smart homes has also emerged taking advantage of the plethora of smart, inexpensive and unobtrusive monitoring sensors, devices and software tools. To this end, a smart monitoring system has been used in order to extract meaningful information about television (TV) usage patterns and subsequently associate them with clinical findings of experts. The smart TV operating state remote monitoring system was installed in four elderly women homes and gathered data for more than 11 months. Results suggest that TV daily usage (time the TV is turned on) can predict mental health change. Conclusively, the authors suggest that collection of smart device usage patterns could strengthen the inference capabilities of existing health DSSs applied in uncontrolled settings such as real senior homes. PMID:27284457

Enabling active and healthy ageing decision support systems with the smart collection of TV usage patterns.

PubMed

Billis, Antonis S; Batziakas, Asterios; Bratsas, Charalampos; Tsatali, Marianna S; Karagianni, Maria; Bamidis, Panagiotis D

2016-03-01

Smart monitoring of seniors behavioural patterns and more specifically activities of daily living have attracted immense research interest in recent years. Development of smart decision support systems to support the promotion of health smart homes has also emerged taking advantage of the plethora of smart, inexpensive and unobtrusive monitoring sensors, devices and software tools. To this end, a smart monitoring system has been used in order to extract meaningful information about television (TV) usage patterns and subsequently associate them with clinical findings of experts. The smart TV operating state remote monitoring system was installed in four elderly women homes and gathered data for more than 11 months. Results suggest that TV daily usage (time the TV is turned on) can predict mental health change. Conclusively, the authors suggest that collection of smart device usage patterns could strengthen the inference capabilities of existing health DSSs applied in uncontrolled settings such as real senior homes.

A fully automated health-care monitoring at home without attachment of any biological sensors and its clinical evaluation.

PubMed

Motoi, Kosuke; Ogawa, Mitsuhiro; Ueno, Hiroshi; Kuwae, Yutaka; Ikarashi, Akira; Yuji, Tadahiko; Higashi, Yuji; Tanaka, Shinobu; Fujimoto, Toshiro; Asanoi, Hidetsugu; Yamakoshi, Ken-ichi

2009-01-01

Daily monitoring of health condition is important for an effective scheme for early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases such as adiposis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other diseases. Commercially available devices for health care monitoring at home are cumbersome in terms of self-attachment of biological sensors and self-operation of the devices. From this viewpoint, we have been developing a non-conscious physiological monitor installed in a bath, a lavatory, and a bed for home health care and evaluated its measurement accuracy by simultaneous recordings of a biological sensors directly attached to the body surface. In order to investigate its applicability to health condition monitoring, we have further developed a new monitoring system which can automatically monitor and store the health condition data. In this study, by evaluation on 3 patients with cardiac infarct or sleep apnea syndrome, patients' health condition such as body and excretion weight in the toilet and apnea and hypopnea during sleeping were successfully monitored, indicating that the system appears useful for monitoring the health condition during daily living.

Perceptions of seniors with heart failure regarding autonomous zero-effort monitoring of physiological parameters in the smart-home environment.

PubMed

Grace, Sherry L; Taherzadeh, Golnoush; Jae Chang, Isaac Sung; Boger, Jennifer; Arcelus, Amaya; Mak, Susanna; Chessex, Caroline; Mihailidis, Alex

Technological advances are leading to the ability to autonomously monitor patient's health status in their own homes, to enable aging-in-place. To understand the perceptions of seniors with heart failure (HF) regarding smart-home systems to monitor their physiological parameters. In this qualitative study, HF outpatients were invited to a smart-home lab, where they completed a sequence of activities, during which the capacity of 5 autonomous sensing modalities was compared to gold standard measures. Afterwards, a semi-structured interview was undertaken. These were transcribed and analyzed using an interpretive-descriptive approach. Five themes emerged from the 26 interviews: (1) perceptions of technology, (2) perceived benefits of autonomous health monitoring, (3) disadvantages of autonomous monitoring, (4) lack of perceived need for continuous health monitoring, and (5) preferences for autonomous monitoring. Patient perception towards autonomous monitoring devices was positive, lending credence to zero-effort technology as a viable and promising approach. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Smart home design for electronic devices monitoring based wireless gateway network using cisco packet tracer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sihombing, Oloan; Zendrato, Niskarto; Laia, Yonata; Nababan, Marlince; Sitanggang, Delima; Purba, Windania; Batubara, Diarmansyah; Aisyah, Siti; Indra, Evta; Siregar, Saut

2018-04-01

In the era of technological development today, the technology has become the need for the life of today's society. One is needed to create a smart home in turning on and off electronic devices via smartphone. So far in turning off and turning the home electronic device is done by pressing the switch or remote button, so in control of electronic device control less effective. The home smart design is done by simulation concept by testing system, network configuration, and wireless home gateway computer network equipment required by a smart home network on cisco packet tracer using Internet Thing (IoT) control. In testing the IoT home network wireless network gateway system, multiple electronic devices can be controlled and monitored via smartphone based on predefined configuration conditions. With the Smart Ho me can potentially increase energy efficiency, decrease energy usage costs, control electronics and change the role of residents.

Home monitoring of patients with Parkinson's disease via wearable technology and a web-based application.

PubMed

Patel, Shyamal; Chen, Bor-Rong; Buckley, Thomas; Rednic, Ramona; McClure, Doug; Tarsy, Daniel; Shih, Ludy; Dy, Jennifer; Welsh, Matt; Bonato, Paolo

2010-01-01

Objective long-term health monitoring can improve the clinical management of several medical conditions ranging from cardiopulmonary diseases to motor disorders. In this paper, we present our work toward the development of a home-monitoring system. The system is currently used to monitor patients with Parkinson's disease who experience severe motor fluctuations. Monitoring is achieved using wireless wearable sensors whose data are relayed to a remote clinical site via a web-based application. The work herein presented shows that wearable sensors combined with a web-based application provide reliable quantitative information that can be used for clinical decision making.

Monitoring and Detection Platform to Prevent Anomalous Situations in Home Care

PubMed Central

Villarrubia, Gabriel; Bajo, Javier; De Paz, Juan F.; Corchado, Juan M.

2014-01-01

Monitoring and tracking people at home usually requires high cost hardware installations, which implies they are not affordable in many situations. This study/paper proposes a monitoring and tracking system for people with medical problems. A virtual organization of agents based on the PANGEA platform, which allows the easy integration of different devices, was created for this study. In this case, a virtual organization was implemented to track and monitor patients carrying a Holter monitor. The system includes the hardware and software required to perform: ECG measurements, monitoring through accelerometers and WiFi networks. Furthermore, the use of interactive television can moderate interactivity with the user. The system makes it possible to merge the information and facilitates patient tracking efficiently with low cost. PMID:24905853

Leveraging Aging in Place Through Sensor-Enhanced In-Home Monitoring.

PubMed

Wang, Ju; Wang, Jing; Miao, Hongyu; Marschollek, Michael; Wolf, Klaus-Hendrik; Lynch, Kerry A; Gong, Yang

2018-01-01

Seniors expect to age in place, which means living in their own homes as long as possible with familiar facilities and environments. Due to the capability of continuous and unobtrusive monitoring, the sensor-enhanced in-ho monitoring is regarded as a promising solution to support aging in place. In this paper, by reviewing three influential projects in this field of in-home monitoring for aging in place, we present our opinions and suggestions on the development of informatics-supported aging in place for its practical application in healthcare such as diagnosis and nursing in the era of data science. To promote the practical usage of in-home monitoring in aging, we highlight the gap between demands and available approaches. We conclude that in the next stage we should design demand-oriented system, conduct evidence-based research and accelerate interdisciplinary collaboration.

Multimodal Wireless Sensor Network-Based Ambient Assisted Living in Real Homes with Multiple Residents

PubMed Central

Tunca, Can; Alemdar, Hande; Ertan, Halil; Incel, Ozlem Durmaz; Ersoy, Cem

2014-01-01

Human activity recognition and behavior monitoring in a home setting using wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide a great potential for ambient assisted living (AAL) applications, ranging from health and wellbeing monitoring to resource consumption monitoring. However, due to the limitations of the sensor devices, challenges in wireless communication and the challenges in processing large amounts of sensor data in order to recognize complex human activities, WSN-based AAL systems are not effectively integrated in the home environment. Additionally, given the variety of sensor types and activities, selecting the most suitable set of sensors in the deployment is an important task. In order to investigate and propose solutions to such challenges, we introduce a WSN-based multimodal AAL system compatible for homes with multiple residents. Particularly, we focus on the details of the system architecture, including the challenges of sensor selection, deployment, networking and data collection and provide guidelines for the design and deployment of an effective AAL system. We also present the details of the field study we conducted, using the systems deployed in two different real home environments with multiple residents. With these systems, we are able to collect ambient sensor data from multiple homes. This data can be used to assess the wellbeing of the residents and identify deviations from everyday routines, which may be indicators of health problems. Finally, in order to elaborate on the possible applications of the proposed AAL system and to exemplify directions for processing the collected data, we provide the results of several human activity inference experiments, along with examples on how such results could be interpreted. We believe that the experiences shared in this work will contribute towards accelerating the acceptance of WSN-based AAL systems in the home setting. PMID:24887044

Multimodal wireless sensor network-based ambient assisted living in real homes with multiple residents.

PubMed

Tunca, Can; Alemdar, Hande; Ertan, Halil; Incel, Ozlem Durmaz; Ersoy, Cem

2014-05-30

Human activity recognition and behavior monitoring in a home setting using wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide a great potential for ambient assisted living (AAL) applications, ranging from health and wellbeing monitoring to resource consumption monitoring. However, due to the limitations of the sensor devices, challenges in wireless communication and the challenges in processing large amounts of sensor data in order to recognize complex human activities, WSN-based AAL systems are not effectively integrated in the home environment. Additionally, given the variety of sensor types and activities, selecting the most suitable set of sensors in the deployment is an important task. In order to investigate and propose solutions to such challenges, we introduce a WSN-based multimodal AAL system compatible for homes with multiple residents. Particularly, we focus on the details of the system architecture, including the challenges of sensor selection, deployment, networking and data collection and provide guidelines for the design and deployment of an effective AAL system. We also present the details of the field study we conducted, using the systems deployed in two different real home environments with multiple residents. With these systems, we are able to collect ambient sensor data from multiple homes. This data can be used to assess the wellbeing of the residents and identify deviations from everyday routines, which may be indicators of health problems. Finally, in order to elaborate on the possible applications of the proposed AAL system and to exemplify directions for processing the collected data, we provide the results of several human activity inference experiments, along with examples on how such results could be interpreted. We believe that the experiences shared in this work will contribute towards accelerating the acceptance of WSN-based AAL systems in the home setting.

"SmartMonitor"--an intelligent security system for the protection of individuals and small properties with the possibility of home automation.

PubMed

Frejlichowski, Dariusz; Gościewska, Katarzyna; Forczmański, Paweł; Hofman, Radosław

2014-06-05

"SmartMonitor" is an intelligent security system based on image analysis that combines the advantages of alarm, video surveillance and home automation systems. The system is a complete solution that automatically reacts to every learned situation in a pre-specified way and has various applications, e.g., home and surrounding protection against unauthorized intrusion, crime detection or supervision over ill persons. The software is based on well-known and proven methods and algorithms for visual content analysis (VCA) that were appropriately modified and adopted to fit specific needs and create a video processing model which consists of foreground region detection and localization, candidate object extraction, object classification and tracking. In this paper, the "SmartMonitor" system is presented along with its architecture, employed methods and algorithms, and object analysis approach. Some experimental results on system operation are also provided. In the paper, focus is put on one of the aforementioned functionalities of the system, namely supervision over ill persons.

Home-made temperature monitoring system from four-channel K-type thermocouples via internet of thing technology platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Detmod, Thitaporn; Özmen, Yiǧiter; Songkaitiwong, Kittiphot; Saenyot, Khanuengchat; Locharoenrat, Kitsakorn; Lekchaum, Sarai

2018-06-01

This paper is aimed to design and construct the home-made temperature monitoring system from four-channel K-type thermocouples in order to improve the temperature measurement based on standard evaluation measurements guidance. The temperature monitoring system was capable to record the temperature on SD card and to display the realtime temperature on Internet of Thing Technology platform. The temperature monitoring system was tested in terms of the temperature measurement accuracy and delay response time. It was found that a standard deviation was acceptable as compared to the Instrument Society of America. The response time of the microcontroller to SD card was 2 sec faster than that of the microcontroller to Thingspeak.

Economic Evaluation of a Home-Based Age-Related Macular Degeneration Monitoring System.

PubMed

Wittenborn, John S; Clemons, Traci; Regillo, Carl; Rayess, Nadim; Liffmann Kruger, Danielle; Rein, David

2017-05-01

Medicare recently approved coverage of home telemonitoring for early detection of incident choroidal neovascularization (CNV) among patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but no economic evaluation has yet assessed its cost-effectiveness and budgetary impact. To evaluate a home-based daily visual-field monitoring system using simulation methods and to apply the findings of the Home Monitoring of the Eye study to the US population at high risk for wet-form AMD. In this economic analysis, an evaluation of the potential cost, cost-effectiveness, and government budgetary impact of adoption of a home-based daily visual-field monitoring system among eligible Medicare patients was performed. Effectiveness and visual outcomes data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Home Monitoring of the Eye study, treatment data from the Wills Eye Hospital Treat & Extend study, and AMD progression data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 1 were used to simulate the long-term effects of telemonitoring patients with CNV in one eye or large drusen and/or pigment abnormalities in both eyes. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analysis and an alternative scenario using the Treat & Extend study control group outcomes were used to examine uncertainty in these data and assumptions. Home telemonitoring of patients with AMD for early detection of CNV vs usual care. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, net present value of lifetime societal costs, and 10-year nominal government expenditures. Telemonitoring of patients with existing unilateral CNV or multiple bilateral risk factors for CNV (large drusen and retinal pigment abnormalities) incurs $907 (95% CI, -$6302 to $2809) in net lifetime societal costs, costs $1312 (95% CI, $222-$2848) per patient during 10 years from the federal government's perspective, and results in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $35 663 (95% CI, cost savings to $235 613) per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Home telemonitoring of patients with AMD who are at risk for CNV was cost-effective compared with scheduled examinations alone. Monitoring patients with existing CNV in one eye is cost saving, but monitoring is generally not cost-effective among patients with low risk of CNV, including those with no or few risk factors. With Medicare coverage, monitoring incurs budgetary expenditures for the government but is cost-saving for patients at high risk of AMD. Monitoring could be cost saving to society if monitoring reduced the frequency of scheduled examinations or led to a reduction of one or more injections of ranibizumab.

Real time sound analysis for medical remote monitoring.

PubMed

Istrate, Dan; Binet, Morgan; Cheng, Sreng

2008-01-01

The increase of aging population in Europe involves more people living alone at home with an increased risk of home accidents or falls. In order to prevent or detect a distress situation in the case of an elderly people living alone, a remote monitoring system based on the sound environment analysis can be used. We have already proposed a system which monitors the sound environment, identifies everyday life sounds and distress expressions in order to participate to an alarm decision. This first system uses a classical sound card on a PC or embedded PC allowing only one channel monitor. In this paper, we propose a new architecture of the remote monitoring system, which relies on a real time multichannel implementation based on an USB acquisition card. This structure allows monitoring eight channels in order to cover all the rooms of an apartment. More than that, the SNR estimation leads currently to the adaptation of the recognition models to environment.

Monitoring game-based motor rehabilitation of patients at home for better plans of care and quality of life.

PubMed

Ponte, S; Gabrielli, S; Jonsdottir, J; Morando, M; Dellepiane, S

2015-01-01

This paper describes the biomedical, remote monitoring infrastructure developed and currently tested in the EU REHAB@HOME project to support home rehabilitation of the upper extremity of persons post-stroke and in persons with other neurological disorders, such as Multiple Sclerosis patients, in order to track their progress over therapy and improve their Quality of Life. The paper will specifically focus on describing the initial testing of the tele-rehabilitation system's components for patients' biomedical monitoring over therapy, which support the delivery and monitoring of more personalized, engaging plans of care by rehabilitation centers and services.

BostonBreathes: Improving pediatric asthma care with a home-based interactive website for patient education, monitoring, and clinical teamwork

PubMed Central

Wiecha, John M.; Adams, William G.

2006-01-01

The BostonBreathes (BB) system is an interactive website enabling physician-physician and physician-patient communication, monitoring (peak-flow, medication use, symptoms) of asthma patients in the home, and patient and family asthma education. The system helps primary care physicians to function in team relationships with asthma specialists and nurses. Patients and families can interact with their health professionals online as members of the care team. BB uniquely combines patient education, monitoring, and clinical teamwork functions into one integrated web environment. PMID:17238763

[Portable Epileptic Seizure Monitoring Intelligent System Based on Android System].

PubMed

Liang, Zhenhu; Wu, Shufeng; Yang, Chunlin; Jiang, Zhenzhou; Yu, Tao; Lu, Chengbiao; Li, Xiaoli

2016-02-01

The clinical electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring systems based on personal computer system can not meet the requirements of portability and home usage. The epilepsy patients have to be monitored in hospital for an extended period of time, which imposes a heavy burden on hospitals. In the present study, we designed a portable 16-lead networked monitoring system based on the Android smart phone. The system uses some technologies including the active electrode, the WiFi wireless transmission, the multi-scale permutation entropy (MPE) algorithm, the back-propagation (BP) neural network algorithm, etc. Moreover, the software of Android mobile application can realize the processing and analysis of EEG data, the display of EEG waveform and the alarm of epileptic seizure. The system has been tested on the mobile phones with Android 2. 3 operating system or higher version and the results showed that this software ran accurately and steadily in the detection of epileptic seizure. In conclusion, this paper provides a portable and reliable solution for epileptic seizure monitoring in clinical and home applications.

Mobile Phone Based System Opportunities to Home-based Managing of Chemotherapy Side Effects.

PubMed

Davoodi, Somayeh; Mohammadzadeh, Zeinab; Safdari, Reza

2016-06-01

Applying mobile base systems in cancer care especially in chemotherapy management have remarkable growing in recent decades. Because chemotherapy side effects have significant influences on patient's lives, therefore it is necessary to take ways to control them. This research has studied some experiences of using mobile phone based systems to home-based monitor of chemotherapy side effects in cancer. In this literature review study, search was conducted with keywords like cancer, chemotherapy, mobile phone, information technology, side effects and self managing, in Science Direct, Google Scholar and Pub Med databases since 2005. Today, because of the growing trend of the cancer, we need methods and innovations such as information technology to manage and control it. Mobile phone based systems are the solutions that help to provide quick access to monitor chemotherapy side effects for cancer patients at home. Investigated studies demonstrate that using of mobile phones in chemotherapy management have positive results and led to patients and clinicians satisfactions. This study shows that the mobile phone system for home-based monitoring chemotherapy side effects works well. In result, knowledge of cancer self-management and the rate of patient's effective participation in care process improved.

Development of a fully automated network system for long-term health-care monitoring at home.

PubMed

Motoi, K; Kubota, S; Ikarashi, A; Nogawa, M; Tanaka, S; Nemoto, T; Yamakoshi, K

2007-01-01

Daily monitoring of health condition at home is very important not only as an effective scheme for early diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and other diseases, but also for prevention and control of such diseases. From this point of view, we have developed a prototype room for fully automated monitoring of various vital signs. From the results of preliminary experiments using this room, it was confirmed that (1) ECG and respiration during bathing, (2) excretion weight and blood pressure, and (3) respiration and cardiac beat during sleep could be monitored with reasonable accuracy by the sensor system installed in bathtub, toilet and bed, respectively.

Improving Smart Home Concept with the Internet of Things Concept Using RaspberryPi and NodeMCU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amri, Yasirli; Andri Setiawan, Mukhammad

2018-03-01

The Internet of things (IoT) is getting more tractions in recent years. One of the usage scenario of IoT is smart home. Smart home basically provides home automation for installed devices at home such as thermostat, lighting, air conditioning, etc and allows devices connected to the Internet to be monitored and controlled remotely by user. However many studies on smart home concept focusing only on few main features. They still lack of important usage of IoT i.e. providing energy efficiency, energy monitoring, dealing with security, and managing privacy. This paper proposes a smart home system with RaspberryPi and NodeMCU as the backend that not only serves as home automation and merely a switch replacement, but to also record and report important things to the owner of the house e.g. when someone trespasses the house (security perimeter), or to report the calculation of how much money has been spent in consuming the electrical appliances. We successfully examine our proposed system in a real life working scenario. The communication between user and the system is done using Telegram Bot.

Feasibility of interactive biking exercise system for telemanagement in elderly.

PubMed

Finkelstein, Joseph; Jeong, In Cheol

2013-01-01

Inexpensive cycling equipment is widely available for home exercise however its use is hampered by lack of tools supporting real-time monitoring of cycling exercise in elderly and coordination with a clinical care team. To address these barriers, we developed a low-cost mobile system aimed at facilitating safe and effective home-based cycling exercise. The system used a miniature wireless 3-axis accelerometer that transmitted the cycling acceleration data to a tablet PC that was integrated with a multi-component disease management system. An exercise dashboard was presented to a patient allowing real-time graphical visualization of exercise progress. The system was programmed to alert patients when exercise intensity exceeded the levels recommended by the patient care providers and to exchange information with a central server. The feasibility of the system was assessed by testing the accuracy of cycling speed monitoring and reliability of alerts generated by the system. Our results demonstrated high validity of the system both for upper and lower extremity exercise monitoring as well as reliable data transmission between home unit and central server.

WiSPH: a wireless sensor network-based home care monitoring system.

PubMed

Magaña-Espinoza, Pedro; Aquino-Santos, Raúl; Cárdenas-Benítez, Néstor; Aguilar-Velasco, José; Buenrostro-Segura, César; Edwards-Block, Arthur; Medina-Cass, Aldo

2014-04-22

This paper presents a system based on WSN technology capable of monitoring heart rate and the rate of motion of seniors within their homes. The system is capable of remotely alerting specialists, caretakers or family members via a smartphone of rapid physiological changes due to falls, tachycardia or bradycardia. This work was carried out using our workgroup's WiSe platform, which we previously developed for use in WSNs. The proposed WSN architecture is flexible, allowing for greater scalability to better allow event-based monitoring. The architecture also provides security mechanisms to assure that the monitored and/or stored data can only be accessed by authorized individuals or devices. The aforementioned characteristics provide the network versatility and solidity required for use in health applications.

Enabling affordable and efficiently deployed location based smart home systems.

PubMed

Kelly, Damian; McLoone, Sean; Dishongh, Terry

2009-01-01

With the obvious eldercare capabilities of smart environments it is a question of "when", rather than "if", these technologies will be routinely integrated into the design of future houses. In the meantime, health monitoring applications must be integrated into already complete home environments. However, there is significant effort involved in installing the hardware necessary to monitor the movements of an elder throughout an environment. Our work seeks to address the high infrastructure requirements of traditional location-based smart home systems by developing an extremely low infrastructure localisation technique. A study of the most efficient method of obtaining calibration data for an environment is conducted and different mobile devices are compared for localisation accuracy and cost trade-off. It is believed that these developments will contribute towards more efficiently deployed location-based smart home systems.

Improving BP control through electronic communications: an economic evaluation.

PubMed

Fishman, Paul A; Cook, Andrea J; Anderson, Melissa L; Ralston, James D; Catz, Sheryl L; Carrell, David; Carlson, James; Green, Beverly B

2013-09-01

Web-based collaborative approaches to managing chronic illness show promise for both improving health outcomes and increasing the efficiency of the healthcare system. Analyze the cost-effectiveness of the Electronic Communications and Home Blood Pressure Monitoring to Improve Blood Pressure Control (e-BP) study, a randomized controlled trial that used a patient-shared electronic medical record, home blood pressure (BP) monitoring, and web-based pharmacist care to improve BP control (<140/90 mm Hg). Incremental cost-effectiveness analysis conducted from a health plan perspective. Cost-effectiveness of home BP monitoring and web-based pharmacist care estimated for percent change in patients with controlled BP and cost per mm Hg in diastolic and systolic BP relative to usual care and home BP monitoring alone. A 1% improvement in number of patients with controlled BP using home BP monitoring and web-based pharmacist care-the e-BP program-costs $16.65 (95% confidence interval: 15.37- 17.94) relative to home BP monitoring and web training alone. Each mm HG reduction in systolic and diastolic BP achieved through the e-BP program costs $65.29 (59.91-70.67) relativeto home BP monitoring and web tools only. Life expectancy was increased at an incremental cost of $1850 (1635-2064) and $2220 (1745-2694) per year of life saved for men and women, respectively. Web-based collaborative care can be used to achieve BP control at a relatively low cost. Future research should examine the cost impact of potential long-term clinical improvements.

Effects of a mobility monitoring system on the cost of care in relation to reimbursement at Swiss nursing homes: learnings from a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Stark, Mario; Tietz, Rigo; Gattinger, Heidrun; Hantikainen, Virpi; Ott, Stefan

2017-12-01

Nursing homes in Switzerland are under pressure to efficiently coordinate staff activities to cover their personnel costs under the care financing system. In this study, the use of a mobility monitoring system accompanied with case conferences was investigated in order to improve sleep quality and estimate the cost benefit of this intervention. In an open two-phase randomized controlled trial at three nursing homes, residents with cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to an intervention group and a control group. In the intervention group, a 10-week period of intensive use of the monitoring system and case conferences led by an advanced nurse practitioner (Phase I) was followed by 3 months of reduced use of the monitoring system and case conferences led by an internal registered nurse (Phase II). In the control group, the monitoring system was only used for data acquisition. Nurses reported the activities with a specifically developed tool. Based on the recorded activities, the cost of care was calculated. The correlating reimbursement per patient was calculated from the care levels in the Swiss reimbursement system. Data from 44 residents was included in the analysis with a linear mixed model. Although analysis revealed no statistically significant effects, results indicate that the use of a monitoring system can guide nurses in organizing their tasks to increase effectiveness. Information systems such as the mobility monitor can help to identify single outliers that do not correspond with the overall situation. In the health care system, problematic individual cases can account for a disproportionally high cost levels. It was shown that information systems can have a significant economic impact in the long run. The study is registered at the German Clinical Trials Register under the Nr. DRKS00006829 .

Network architecture for global biomedical monitoring service.

PubMed

Lopez-Casado, Carmen; Tejero-Calado, Juan; Bernal-Martin, Antonio; Lopez-Gomez, Miguel; Romero-Romero, Marco; Quesada, Guillermo; Lorca, Julio; Garcia, Eugenia

2005-01-01

Most of the patients who are in hospitals and, increasingly, patients controlled remotely from their homes, at-home monitoring, are continuously monitored in order to control their evolution. The medical devices used up to now, force the sanitary staff to go to the patients' room to control the biosignals that are being monitored, although in many cases, patients are in perfect conditions. If patient is at home, it is he or she who has to go to the hospital to take the record of the monitored signal. New wireless technologies, such as BlueTooth and WLAN, make possible the deployment of systems that allow the display and storage of those signals in any place where the hospital intranet is accessible. In that way, unnecessary displacements are avoided. This paper presents a network architecture that allows the identification of the biosignal acquisition device as IP network nodes. The system is based on a TCP/IP architecture which is scalable and avoids the deployment of a specific purpose network.

Willingness of older adults to share data and privacy concerns after exposure to unobtrusive in-home monitoring.

PubMed

Boise, Linda; Wild, Katherine; Mattek, Nora; Ruhl, Mary; Dodge, Hiroko H; Kaye, Jeffrey

2013-01-01

Older adult participants in the Intelligent Systems for Assessment of Aging Changes study (ISAAC) carried out by the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology (ORCATECH) were surveyed regarding their attitudes about unobtrusive home monitoring and computer use at baseline and after one year (n=119). The survey was part of a longitudinal study using in-home sensor technology to detect cognitive changes and other health problems. Our primary objective was to measure willingness to share health or activity data with one's doctor or family members and concerns about privacy or security of monitoring over one year of study participation. Differences in attitudes of participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) compared to those with normal cognition were also examined. A high proportion (over 72%) of participants reported acceptance of in-home and computer monitoring and willingness to have data shared with their doctor or family members. However, a majority (60%) reported concerns related to privacy or security; these concerns increased after one year of participation. Few differences between participants with MCI and those with normal cognition were identified. Findings suggest that involvement in this unobtrusive in-home monitoring study may have raised awareness about the potential privacy risks of technology. Still, results show high acceptance, stable over time, of sharing information from monitoring systems with family members and doctors. Our findings have important implications for the deployment of technologies among older adults in research studies as well as in the general community.

DiAs Web Monitoring: A Real-Time Remote Monitoring System Designed for Artificial Pancreas Outpatient Trials

PubMed Central

Place, Jérôme; Robert, Antoine; Brahim, Najib Ben; Patrick, Keith-Hynes; Farret, Anne; Marie-Josée, Pelletier; Buckingham, Bruce; Breton, Marc; Kovatchev, Boris; Renard, Eric

2013-01-01

Background Developments in an artificial pancreas (AP) for patients with type 1 diabetes have allowed a move toward performing outpatient clinical trials. “Home-like” environment implies specific protocol and system adaptations among which the introduction of remote monitoring is meaningful. We present a novel tool allowing multiple patients to monitor AP use in home-like settings. Methods We investigated existing systems, performed interviews of experienced clinical teams, listed required features, and drew several mockups of the user interface. The resulting application was tested on the bench before it was used in three outpatient studies representing 3480 h of remote monitoring. Results Our tool, called DiAs Web Monitoring (DWM), is a web-based application that ensures reception, storage, and display of data sent by AP systems. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and insulin delivery data are presented in a colored chart to facilitate reading and interpretation. Several subjects can be monitored simultaneously on the same screen, and alerts are triggered to help detect events such as hypoglycemia or CGM failures. In the third trial, DWM received approximately 460 data per subject per hour: 77% for log messages, 5% for CGM data. More than 97% of transmissions were achieved in less than 5 min. Conclusions Transition from a hospital setting to home-like conditions requires specific AP supervision to which remote monitoring systems can contribute valuably. DiAs Web Monitoring worked properly when tested in our outpatient studies. It could facilitate subject monitoring and even accelerate medical and technical assessment of the AP. It should now be adapted for long-term studies with an enhanced notification feature. J Diabetes Sci Technol 2013;7(6):1427–1435 PMID:24351169

DiAs web monitoring: a real-time remote monitoring system designed for artificial pancreas outpatient trials.

PubMed

Place, Jérôme; Robert, Antoine; Ben Brahim, Najib; Keith-Hynes, Patrick; Farret, Anne; Pelletier, Marie-Josée; Buckingham, Bruce; Breton, Marc; Kovatchev, Boris; Renard, Eric

2013-11-01

Developments in an artificial pancreas (AP) for patients with type 1 diabetes have allowed a move toward performing outpatient clinical trials. "Home-like" environment implies specific protocol and system adaptations among which the introduction of remote monitoring is meaningful. We present a novel tool allowing multiple patients to monitor AP use in home-like settings. We investigated existing systems, performed interviews of experienced clinical teams, listed required features, and drew several mockups of the user interface. The resulting application was tested on the bench before it was used in three outpatient studies representing 3480 h of remote monitoring. Our tool, called DiAs Web Monitoring (DWM), is a web-based application that ensures reception, storage, and display of data sent by AP systems. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and insulin delivery data are presented in a colored chart to facilitate reading and interpretation. Several subjects can be monitored simultaneously on the same screen, and alerts are triggered to help detect events such as hypoglycemia or CGM failures. In the third trial, DWM received approximately 460 data per subject per hour: 77% for log messages, 5% for CGM data. More than 97% of transmissions were achieved in less than 5 min. Transition from a hospital setting to home-like conditions requires specific AP supervision to which remote monitoring systems can contribute valuably. DiAs Web Monitoring worked properly when tested in our outpatient studies. It could facilitate subject monitoring and even accelerate medical and technical assessment of the AP. It should now be adapted for long-term studies with an enhanced notification feature. © 2013 Diabetes Technology Society.

A Context-Aware Indoor Air Quality System for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention

PubMed Central

De Paz, Juan F.; Barriuso, Alberto L.

2018-01-01

Context-aware monitoring systems designed for e-Health solutions and ambient assisted living (AAL) play an important role in today’s personalized health-care services. The majority of these systems are intended for the monitoring of patients’ vital signs by means of bio-sensors. At present, there are very few systems that monitor environmental conditions and air quality in the homes of users. A home’s environmental conditions can have a significant influence on the state of the health of its residents. Monitoring the environment is the key to preventing possible diseases caused by conditions that do not favor health. This paper presents a context-aware system that monitors air quality to prevent a specific health problem at home. The aim of this system is to reduce the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is triggered mainly by environmental factors. In the conducted case study, the system monitored the state of the neonate and the quality of air while it was asleep. The designed proposal is characterized by its low cost and non-intrusive nature. The results are promising. PMID:29498653

Quantification of alcohol drinking patterns in mice.

PubMed

Eisenhardt, Manuela; Leixner, Sarah; Spanagel, Rainer; Bilbao, Ainhoa

2015-11-01

The use of mice in alcohol research provides an excellent model system for a better understanding of the genetics and neurobiology of alcohol addiction. Almost 60 years ago, alcohol researchers began to test strains of mice for alcohol preference and intake. In particular, various voluntary alcohol drinking paradigms in the home cage were developed. In mouse models of voluntary oral alcohol consumption, animals have concurrent access to water and either one or several concentrated alcohol solutions in their home cages. Although these models have high face validity, many experimental conditions require a more precise monitoring of alcohol consumption in mice in order to capture the role of specific strains or genes, or any other manipulation on alcohol drinking behavior. Therefore, we have developed a fully automated, highly precise monitoring system for alcohol drinking in mice in the home cage. This system is now commercially available. We show that this drinkometer system allows for detecting differences in drinking behavior (i) in transgenic mice, (ii) following alcohol deprivation, and (iii) following stress applications that are usually not detected by classical home-cage drinking paradigms. In conclusion, our drinkometer system allows disturbance-free and high resolution monitoring of alcohol drinking behavior. In particular, micro-drinking and circadian drinking patterns can be monitored in genetically modified and inbred strains of mice after environmental and pharmacological manipulation, and therefore this system represents an improvement in measuring behavioral features that are of relevance for the development of alcohol use disorders. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

An integrated healthcare system for personalized chronic disease care in home-hospital environments.

PubMed

Jeong, Sangjin; Youn, Chan-Hyun; Shim, Eun Bo; Kim, Moonjung; Cho, Young Min; Peng, Limei

2012-07-01

Facing the increasing demands and challenges in the area of chronic disease care, various studies on the healthcare system which can, whenever and wherever, extract and process patient data have been conducted. Chronic diseases are the long-term diseases and require the processes of the real-time monitoring, multidimensional quantitative analysis, and the classification of patients' diagnostic information. A healthcare system for chronic diseases is characterized as an at-hospital and at-home service according to a targeted environment. Both services basically aim to provide patients with accurate diagnoses of disease by monitoring a variety of physical states with a number of monitoring methods, but there are differences between home and hospital environments, and the different characteristics should be considered in order to provide more accurate diagnoses for patients, especially, patients having chronic diseases. In this paper, we propose a patient status classification method for effectively identifying and classifying chronic diseases and show the validity of the proposed method. Furthermore, we present a new healthcare system architecture that integrates the at-home and at-hospital environment and discuss the applicability of the architecture using practical target services.

Air-to-Water Heat Pumps With Radiant Delivery in Low-Load Homes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Backman, C.; German, A.; Dakin, B.

2013-12-01

Space conditioning represents nearly 50% of average residential household energy consumption, highlighting the need to identify alternative cost-effective, energy-efficient cooling and heating strategies. As homes are better built, there is an increasing need for strategies that are particularly well suited for high performance, low load homes. ARBI researchers worked with two test homes in hot-dry climates to evaluate the in-situ performance of air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) systems, an energy efficient space conditioning solution designed to cost-effectively provide comfort in homes with efficient, safe, and durable operation. Two monitoring projects of test houses in hot-dry climates were initiated in 2010 tomore » test this system. Both systems were fully instrumented and have been monitored over one year to capture complete performance data over the cooling and heating seasons. Results are used to quantify energy savings, cost-effectiveness, and system performance using different operating modes and strategies. A calibrated TRNSYS model was developed and used to evaluate performance in various climate regions. This strategy is most effective in tight, insulated homes with high levels of thermal mass (i.e. exposed slab floors).« less

The efficacy and stability of an information and communication technology-based centralized monitoring system of adherence to immunosuppressive medication in kidney transplant recipients: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Jung, Hee-Yeon; Seong, Sook Jin; Choi, Ji-Young; Cho, Jang-Hee; Park, Sun-Hee; Kim, Chan-Duck; Yoon, Young-Ran; Kim, Hyung-Kee; Huh, Seung; Yoon, Se-Hee; Lee, Jong Soo; Kim, Yong-Lim

2017-10-16

Immunosuppression non-adherence in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) not only increases the risk of medical intervention due to acute rejection and graft loss but burdens the socioeconomic system in the form of increased healthcare costs. An aggressive preemptive effort by healthcare professionals, geared to ensure adherence to immunosuppressants in KTRs, is significant and imperative. This study was designed as a prospective, open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled study aimed at evaluating the efficacy and stability of an information and communication technology (ICT)-based centralized monitoring system in boosting medication adherence in KTRs. One hundred fourteen KTRs registered throughout the year 2017 to 2018 are randomized into either the ICT-based centralized home monitoring system or to ambulatory follow-up. The planned follow-up duration is 6 months. The ICT-based centralized home monitoring system described consists of a smart pill box equipped with personal identification system, a home monitoring system, an electronic Case Report Form (eCRF) system, and a comprehensive clinical trial management system (CTMS). It alerts both patients and medical staff with texts and pill box alarms if there is a dosage/dosing time error or a missed dose. Medication adherence and transplant outcomes for the follow-up period are compared between the two groups, while patient satisfaction as well as the stability and cost-effectiveness of the ICT-based monitoring system are to be evaluated. This on-going study is expected to determine if consistent use of the ICT-based centralized monitoring system described could maximize mediation adherence and subsequently enhance transplant outcomes in KTRs. Further, it would lay the foundation for successful implementation of this ICT-based monitoring system for effective management of medication adherence in KTRs. ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT03136588 . Registered on 20 April 2017.

Use of home blood-pressure monitoring in the detection, treatment and surveillance of hypertension.

PubMed

Manning, Gillian; Donnelly, Richard

2005-11-01

Use of home blood-pressure monitoring is increasing but the technique and the equipment have limitations. We provide an overview of recent evidence in this rapidly evolving field. Home blood-pressure monitoring is an acceptable method for screening patients for hypertension. There is increasing evidence supporting the predictive power of home blood pressure for stroke risk even in the general population. The identification of white-coat and masked hypertension remains an important role for home blood-pressure monitoring. Unvalidated equipment and poor patient technique are major concerns. The purchase of devices needs to be linked to a simple patient-education programme, which is perhaps an opportunity for collaboration between healthcare providers and commercial companies. Devices that store the blood-pressure measurements in the memory are preferred to ensure accuracy of reporting. Data-transmission systems providing automatic storage, transmission and reporting of blood pressure, direct involvement of the patient and potentially a reduced number of hospital/general practitioner visits, offer significant advantages. To reduce patient anxiety, overuse of home blood-pressure monitoring should be avoided but there is the potential for self-modification of treatment, subject to certain safeguards. Self-monitoring of blood pressure is developing rapidly, linked to increasing awareness of the impact of reducing high blood pressure on public health and the marketing/advertising strategies used to sell automatic devices. Home blood-pressure monitoring has a role in the detection and management of blood pressure, but not at the expense of careful blood-pressure measurement in the office and adherence to national guidelines.

Secure telemonitoring system for delivering telerehabilitation therapy to enhance children's communication function to home.

PubMed

Parmanto, Bambang; Saptono, Andi; Murthi, Raymond; Safos, Charlotte; Lathan, Corinna E

2008-11-01

A secure telemonitoring system was developed to transform CosmoBot system, a stand-alone speech-language therapy software, into a telerehabilitation system. The CosmoBot system is a motivating, computer-based play character designed to enhance children's communication skills and stimulate verbal interaction during the remediation of speech and language disorders. The CosmoBot system consists of the Mission Control human interface device and Cosmo's Play and Learn software featuring a robot character named Cosmo that targets educational goals for children aged 3-5 years. The secure telemonitoring infrastructure links a distant speech-language therapist and child/parents at home or school settings. The result is a telerehabilitation system that allows a speech-language therapist to monitor children's activities at home while providing feedback and therapy materials remotely. We have developed the means for telerehabilitation of communication skills that can be implemented in children's home settings. The architecture allows the therapist to remotely monitor the children after completion of the therapy session and to provide feedback for the following session.

The application of autostereoscopic display in smart home system based on mobile devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yongjun; Ling, Zhi

2015-03-01

Smart home is a system to control home devices which are more and more popular in our daily life. Mobile intelligent terminals based on smart homes have been developed, make remote controlling and monitoring possible with smartphones or tablets. On the other hand, 3D stereo display technology developed rapidly in recent years. Therefore, a iPad-based smart home system adopts autostereoscopic display as the control interface is proposed to improve the userfriendliness of using experiences. In consideration of iPad's limited hardware capabilities, we introduced a 3D image synthesizing method based on parallel processing with Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) implemented it with OpenGL ES Application Programming Interface (API) library on IOS platforms for real-time autostereoscopic displaying. Compared to the traditional smart home system, the proposed system applied autostereoscopic display into smart home system's control interface enhanced the reality, user-friendliness and visual comfort of interface.

Utilizing a Homecare Platform for Remote Monitoring of Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

PubMed

Panagopoulos, Christos; Malli, Foteini; Menychtas, Andreas; Smyrli, Efstathia-Petrina; Georgountzou, Aikaterini; Daniil, Zoe; Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos I; Tsanakas, Panayiotis; Maglogiannis, Ilias

2017-01-01

Homecare and home telemonitoring are a focal point of emerging healthcare schemes, with proven benefits for both patients, caregivers and providers, including reduction of healthcare costs and improved patients' quality of life, especially in the case of chronic disease management. Studies have evaluated solutions for remote monitoring of chronic patients based on technologies that allow daily symptom and vital signs monitoring, tailored to the needs of specific diseases. In this work, we present an affordable home telemonitoring system for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), based on an application for mobile devices and Bluetooth-enabled sensors for pulse oximetry and blood pressure measurements. Besides monitoring of vital signs, the system incorporates communication via videoconferencing and emergency response, with support from a helpdesk service. A pilot study was conducted, in order to verify the proposed solution's feasibility. The results support the utilization of the system for effective monitoring of patients with IPF.

Wearable sensors for human health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asada, H. Harry; Reisner, Andrew

2006-03-01

Wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of vital signs for extended periods of weeks or months are expected to revolutionize healthcare services in the home and workplace as well as in hospitals and nursing homes. This invited paper describes recent research progress in wearable health monitoring technology and its clinical applications, with emphasis on blood pressure and circulatory monitoring. First, a finger ring-type wearable blood pressure sensor based on photo plethysmogram is presented. Technical issues, including motion artifact reduction, power saving, and wearability enhancement, will be addressed. Second, sensor fusion and sensor networking for integrating multiple sensors with diverse modalities will be discussed for comprehensive monitoring and diagnosis of health status. Unlike traditional snap-shot measurements, continuous monitoring with wearable sensors opens up the possibility to treat the physiological system as a dynamical process. This allows us to apply powerful system dynamics and control methodologies, such as adaptive filtering, single- and multi-channel system identification, active noise cancellation, and adaptive control, to the monitoring and treatment of highly complex physiological systems. A few clinical trials illustrate the potentials of the wearable sensor technology for future heath care services.

Integrating mHealth in Oncology: Experience in the Province of Trento.

PubMed

Galligioni, Enzo; Piras, Enrico Maria; Galvagni, Michele; Eccher, Claudio; Caramatti, Silvia; Zanolli, Daniela; Santi, Jonni; Berloffa, Flavio; Dianti, Marco; Maines, Francesca; Sannicolò, Mirella; Sandri, Marco; Bragantini, Lara; Ferro, Antonella; Forti, Stefano

2015-05-13

The potential benefits of the introduction of electronic and mobile health (mHealth) information technologies, to support the safe delivery of intravenous chemotherapy or oral anticancer therapies, could be exponential in the context of a highly integrated computerized system. Here we describe a safe therapy mobile (STM) system for the safe delivery of intravenous chemotherapy, and a home monitoring system for monitoring and managing toxicity and improving adherence in patients receiving oral anticancer therapies at home. The STM system is fully integrated with the electronic oncological patient record. After the prescription of chemotherapy, specific barcodes are automatically associated with the patient and each drug, and a bedside barcode reader checks the patient, nurse, infusion bag, and drug sequence in order to trace the entire administration process, which is then entered in the patient's record. The usability and acceptability of the system was investigated by means of a modified questionnaire administered to nurses. The home monitoring system consists of a mobile phone or tablet diary app, which allows patients to record their state of health, the medications taken, their side effects, and a Web dashboard that allows health professionals to check the patient data and monitor toxicity and treatment adherence. A built-in rule-based alarm module notifies health care professionals of critical conditions. Initially developed for chronic patients, the system has been subsequently customized in order to monitor home treatments with capecitabine or sunitinib in cancer patients (Onco-TreC). The STM system never failed to match the patient/nurse/drug sequence association correctly, and proved to be accurate and reliable in tracing and recording the entire administration process. The questionnaires revealed that the users were generally satisfied and had a positive perception of the system's usefulness and ease of use, and the quality of their working lives. The pilot studies with the home monitoring system with 43 chronic patients have shown that the approach is reliable and useful for clinicians and patients, but it is also necessary to pay attention to the expectations that mHealth solutions may raise in users. The Onco-TreC version has been successfully laboratory tested, and is now ready for validation. The STM and Onco-TreC systems are fully integrated with our complex and composite information system, which guarantees privacy, security, interoperability, and real-time communications between patients and health professionals. They need to be validated in order to confirm their positive contribution to the safer administration of anticancer drugs.

Home-based mobile cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation consultant system.

PubMed

Lee, Hsu-En; Wang, Wen-Chih; Lu, Shao-Wei; Wu, Bo-Yuan; Ko, Li-Wei

2011-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the most popular cause of death in the world recently. For postoperatives, cardiac rehabilitation is still asked to maintain at home (phase II) to improve cardiac function. However, only one third of outpatients do the exercise regularly, reflecting the difficulty for home-based healthcare: lacking of monitoring and motivation. Hence, a cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation system was proposed in this research to improve rehabilitation efficiency for better prognosis. The proposed system was built on mobile phone and receiving electrocardiograph (ECG) signal from a wireless ECG holter via Bluetooth connection. Apart from heart rate (HR) monitor, an ECG derived respiration (EDR) technique is also included to provide respiration rate (RR). Both HR and RR are the most important vital signs during exercise but only used one physiological signal recorder in this system. In clinical test, there were 15 subjects affording Bruce Task (treadmill) to simulate rehabilitation procedure. Correlation between this system and commercial product (Custo-Med) was up to 98% in HR and 81% in RR. Considering the prevention of sudden heart attack, an arrhythmia detection expert system and healthcare server at the backend were also integrated to this system for comprehensive cardio-pulmonary monitoring whenever and wherever doing the exercise.

A Scoping Review of Economic Evaluations Alongside Randomised Controlled Trials of Home Monitoring in Chronic Disease Management.

PubMed

Kidholm, Kristian; Kristensen, Mie Borch Dahl

2018-04-01

Many countries have considered telemedicine and home monitoring of patients as a solution to the demographic challenges that health-care systems face. However, reviews of economic evaluations of telemedicine have identified methodological problems in many studies as they do not comply with guidelines. The aim of this study was to examine economic evaluations alongside randomised controlled trials of home monitoring in chronic disease management and hereby to explore the resources included in the programme costs, the types of health-care utilisation that change as a result of home monitoring and discuss the value of economic evaluation alongside randomised controlled trials of home monitoring on the basis of the studies identified. A scoping review of economic evaluations of home monitoring of patients with chronic disease based on randomised controlled trials and including information on the programme costs and the costs of equipment was carried out based on a Medline (PubMed) search. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies include both costs of equipment and use of staff, but there is large variation in the types of equipment and types of tasks for the staff included in the costs. Equipment costs constituted 16-73% of the total programme costs. In six of the nine studies, home monitoring resulted in a reduction in primary care or emergency contacts. However, in total, home monitoring resulted in increased average costs per patient in six studies and reduced costs in three of the nine studies. The review is limited by the small number of studies found and the restriction to randomised controlled trials, which can be problematic in this area due to lack of blinding of patients and healthcare professionals and the difficulty of implementing organisational changes in hospital departments for the limited period of a trial. Furthermore, our results may be based on assessments of older telemedicine interventions.

An evaluation of an intelligent home monitoring system.

PubMed

Sixsmith, A J

2000-01-01

A trial was performed of an intelligent monitoring system which used sensors in the home to identify emergencies by detecting deviations from normal activity patterns. The field trial lasted three months. Twenty-two elderly people agreed to participate. Their ages ranged from early 60s to over 85, with two-thirds in the age range 75-84 years. They lived in four different localities within the UK--Ipswich, Northumberland, Merseyside and Nottingham. A total of 61 alerts was recorded, at a mean frequency about one alert per month per client. Of the 61 alerts generated, 46 were classified as false alerts and the other 15 as genuine, although no real emergencies occurred during the study. Many people in the field trial reported enhanced feelings of safety and security, which could help to stimulate independence and help them to remain living in their own homes. The monitoring system increased the care choices available to elderly people and supported and enhanced the carer's role.

Monitoring Quality Across Home Visiting Models: A Field Test of Michigan's Home Visiting Quality Assurance System.

PubMed

Heany, Julia; Torres, Jennifer; Zagar, Cynthia; Kostelec, Tiffany

2018-06-05

Introduction In order to achieve the positive outcomes with parents and children demonstrated by many home visiting models, home visiting services must be well implemented. The Michigan Home Visiting Initiative developed a tool and procedure for monitoring implementation quality across models referred to as Michigan's Home Visiting Quality Assurance System (MHVQAS). This study field tested the MHVQAS. This article focuses on one of the study's evaluation questions: Can the MHVQAS be applied across models? Methods Eight local implementing agencies (LIAs) from four home visiting models (Healthy Families America, Early Head Start-Home Based, Parents as Teachers, Maternal Infant Health Program) and five reviewers participated in the study by completing site visits, tracking their time and costs, and completing surveys about the process. LIAs also submitted their most recent review by their model developer. The researchers conducted participant observation of the review process. Results Ratings on the MHVQAS were not significantly different between models. There were some differences in interrater reliability and perceived reliability between models. There were no significant differences between models in perceived validity, satisfaction with the review process, or cost to participate. Observational data suggested that cross-model applicability could be improved by assisting sites in relating the requirements of the tool to the specifics of their model. Discussion The MHVQAS shows promise as a tool and process to monitor implementation quality of home visiting services across models. The results of the study will be used to make improvements before the MHVQAS is used in practice.

Feasibility and usability of a home monitoring concept based on mobile phones and near field communication (NFC) technology.

PubMed

Morak, Jürgen; Kollmann, Alexander; Schreier, Günter

2007-01-01

Utilization of mobile information and communication technologies in home monitoring applications is becoming more and more common. The mobile phone, acting as a patient terminal for patients suffering from chronic diseases, provides an active link to the caregiver to transmit health status information and receive feedback. In such a concept the usability is still limited by the necessity of entering the values via the mobile phone's small keypad. The near field communication technology (NFC), a touch-based wireless interface that became available recently, may improve the usability level of such applications significantly. The focus of this paper is to describe the development of a prototype application based on this technology embedded in a home monitoring system. The feasibility and usability of this approach are evaluated and compared with concepts used in previous approaches. The high quantifier with respect to overall usability indicates that NFC may be the technology of choice for some tasks in home monitoring applications.

Design and implementation of a mobile-care system over wireless sensor network for home healthcare applications.

PubMed

Lee, Ren-Guey; Lai, Chien-Chih; Chiang, Shao-Shan; Liu, Hsin-Sheng; Chen, Chun-Chang; Hsieh, Guan-Yu

2006-01-01

According to home healthcare requirement of chronic patients, this paper proposes a mobile-care system integrated with a variety of vital-sign monitoring, where all the front-end vital-sign measuring devices are portable and have the ability of short-range wireless communication. In order to make the system more suitable for home applications, the technology of wireless sensor network is introduced to transmit the captured vital signs to the residential gateway by means of multi-hop relay. Then the residential gateway uploads data to the care server via Internet to carry out patient's condition monitoring and the management of pathological data. Furthermore, the system is added in the alarm mechanism, which the portable care device is able to immediately perceive the critical condition of the patient and to send a warning message to medical and nursing personnels in order to achieve the goal of prompt rescue.

PLCs used in smart home control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barz, C.; Deaconu, S. I.; Latinovic, T.; Berdie, A.; Pop-Vadean, A.; Horgos, M.

2016-02-01

This paper presents the realization of a smart home automation using Siemens PLCs. The smart home interface is realized using the HMI Weintek eMT3070a touchscreen, which shows the window for controlling and monitoring the lighting, room temperature, irrigation systems, swimming pool, etc. By using PLCs, the smart home can be controlled via Ethernet and it can be programmed to the needs of tenants.

Smart sensor systems for human health breath monitoring applications.

PubMed

Hunter, G W; Xu, J C; Biaggi-Labiosa, A M; Laskowski, D; Dutta, P K; Mondal, S P; Ward, B J; Makel, D B; Liu, C C; Chang, C W; Dweik, R A

2011-09-01

Breath analysis techniques offer a potential revolution in health care diagnostics, especially if these techniques can be brought into standard use in the clinic and at home. The advent of microsensors combined with smart sensor system technology enables a new generation of sensor systems with significantly enhanced capabilities and minimal size, weight and power consumption. This paper discusses the microsensor/smart sensor system approach and provides a summary of efforts to migrate this technology into human health breath monitoring applications. First, the basic capability of this approach to measure exhaled breath associated with exercise physiology is demonstrated. Building from this foundation, the development of a system for a portable asthma home health care system is described. A solid-state nitric oxide (NO) sensor for asthma monitoring has been identified, and efforts are underway to miniaturize this NO sensor technology and integrate it into a smart sensor system. It is concluded that base platform microsensor technology combined with smart sensor systems can address the needs of a range of breath monitoring applications and enable new capabilities for healthcare.

Lightweight UDP Pervasive Protocol in Smart Home Environment Based on Labview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurniawan, Wijaya; Hannats Hanafi Ichsan, Mochammad; Rizqika Akbar, Sabriansyah; Arwani, Issa

2017-04-01

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) technology in a reliable environment was not a problem, but not in an environment where the entire Smart Home network connected locally. Currently employing pervasive protocols using TCP technology, when data transmission is sent, it would be slower because they have to perform handshaking process in advance and could not broadcast the data. On smart home environment, it does not need large size and complex data transmission between monitoring site and monitoring center required in Smart home strain monitoring system. UDP (User Datagram Protocol) technology is quick and simple on data transmission process. UDP can broadcast messages because the UDP did not require handshaking and with more efficient memory usage. LabVIEW is a programming language software for processing and visualization of data in the field of data acquisition. This paper proposes to examine Pervasive UDP protocol implementations in smart home environment based on LabVIEW. UDP coded in LabVIEW and experiments were performed on a PC and can work properly.

TESTING AND VERIFICATION OF REAL-TIME WATER QUALITY MONITORING SENSORS IN A DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AGAINST INTRODUCED CONTAMINATION

EPA Science Inventory

Drinking water distribution systems reach the majority of American homes, business and civic areas, and are therefore an attractive target for terrorist attack via direct contamination, or backflow events. Instrumental monitoring of such systems may be used to signal the prese...

Detecting Human Motion: Introducing Step, Fall and ADL Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vermeiren, Dries; Weyn, Maarten; de Ron, Geert

Telecare is the term given to offering remote care to elderly and vulnerable people, providing them with the care and reassurance needed to allow them to keep living at home. As telecare is gaining research interests, we'll introduce a system which can be used to monitor the steps, falls and daily activities of high risk populations in this paper. Using this system it is possible for a patient to rehabilitate at home or for elderly to keep living independently in their own house while they are still monitored. This leads to a huge cost reduction in health services and moreover it will make patients satisfied for being able to live at home as long as possible and in all comfort.

78 FR 41118 - Biweekly Notice; Applications and Amendments to Facility Operating Licenses and Combined Licenses...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-09

..., such as social security numbers, home addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings, unless an NRC... range monitoring (APRM) system ``Upscale'' and ``Inoperative'' scram and control rod withdrawal block...

A posture recognition based fall detection system for monitoring an elderly person in a smart home environment.

PubMed

Yu, Miao; Rhuma, Adel; Naqvi, Syed Mohsen; Wang, Liang; Chambers, Jonathon

2012-11-01

We propose a novel computer vision based fall detection system for monitoring an elderly person in a home care application. Background subtraction is applied to extract the foreground human body and the result is improved by using certain post-processing. Information from ellipse fitting and a projection histogram along the axes of the ellipse are used as the features for distinguishing different postures of the human. These features are then fed into a directed acyclic graph support vector machine (DAGSVM) for posture classification, the result of which is then combined with derived floor information to detect a fall. From a dataset of 15 people, we show that our fall detection system can achieve a high fall detection rate (97.08%) and a very low false detection rate (0.8%) in a simulated home environment.

Water quality monitoring records for estimating tap water arsenic and nitrate: a validation study.

PubMed

Searles Nielsen, Susan; Kuehn, Carrie M; Mueller, Beth A

2010-01-28

Tap water may be an important source of exposure to arsenic and nitrate. Obtaining and analyzing samples in the context of large studies of health effects can be expensive. As an alternative, studies might estimate contaminant levels in individual homes by using publicly available water quality monitoring records, either alone or in combination with geographic information systems (GIS). We examined the validity of records-based methods in Washington State, where arsenic and nitrate contamination is prevalent but generally observed at modest levels. Laboratory analysis of samples from 107 homes (median 0.6 microg/L arsenic, median 0.4 mg/L nitrate as nitrogen) served as our "gold standard." Using Spearman's rho we compared these measures to estimates obtained using only the homes' street addresses and recent and/or historical measures from publicly monitored water sources within specified distances (radii) ranging from one half mile to 10 miles. Agreement improved as distance decreased, but the proportion of homes for which we could estimate summary measures also decreased. When including all homes, agreement was 0.05-0.24 for arsenic (8 miles), and 0.31-0.33 for nitrate (6 miles). Focusing on the closest source yielded little improvement. Agreement was greatest among homes with private wells. For homes on a water system, agreement improved considerably if we included only sources serving the relevant system (rho = 0.29 for arsenic, rho = 0.60 for nitrate). Historical water quality databases show some promise for categorizing epidemiologic study participants in terms of relative tap water nitrate levels. Nonetheless, such records-based methods must be used with caution, and their use for arsenic may be limited.

Examining Korean and Korean American older adults' perceived acceptability of home-based monitoring technologies in the context of culture.

PubMed

Chung, Jane; Thompson, Hilaire J; Joe, Jonathan; Hall, Amanda; Demiris, George

2017-01-01

Despite the increasing use of home-based monitoring technologies by older adults, few studies have examined older adults' acceptance of these technologies, especially among people from diverse cultural groups. The purpose of this study was to explore Korean and Korean American older adults' attitudes toward and perceptions of home-based monitoring technologies in a cultural context. A qualitative analysis of focus groups and individual interviews using inductive coding methods and a constant comparative approach for emerging themes was conducted. Several cultural factors that determine the acceptability of home-based monitoring technologies were identified. Most notably, the necessity of living alone due to loosened filial tradition and immigration was a main motivator for adopting these technologies for both Korean and Korean Americans. The level of satisfaction with the health care system or therapeutic interaction affected participants' perceived need for technologies. Compared with the Korean American group, Korean older adults regarded the government's role as more important in increasing adoption and use of new technologies. Contextual factors need to be considered when explaining perceptions of home-based monitoring technologies among older adults from various ethnic groups and developing diffusion strategies according to end users' attitudes, experiences, and cultural backgrounds.

A tele-home care system exploiting the DVB-T technology and MHP.

PubMed

Angius, G; Pani, D; Raffo, L; Randaccio, P; Seruis, S

2008-01-01

The aim of this research work is the development of a low-cost system for telemedicine based on the DVB-T technology. The diffusion of DVB-T standard and the low cost of DVB-T set-top boxes bring the vision of a capillary distribution of tele-home care monitoring systems with easy-to-use patient's interface. Exploiting the potentiality of the DVB-T set-top box, we transformed it into an "on-demand tele-home care interface". The Xlet we developed is able to govern the functionality of an external microcontroller-based unit for the acquisition of the bio-signals of interest. The uplink connection is used to send the exam results to a remote care center. The Xlet providing the patient interface on the set-top box is uploaded by a DVB-T broadcaster without any intervention in the patient's home. A prototypal low-cost base station for the acquisition of the patient's signals (1-lead ECG) has been developed. It is able to be connected to the set-top box via an infrared link. A smart-card-based system is in charge for the customization of the Xlet for every patient. The proposed system, based on a currently widespread infrastructure, is able to allow the patients monitoring from home without any installation procedure. Even untrained (or elderly) people can easily use such system due to their practice with the basic DVB-T home-entertainment equipments.

Design and development of an impedimetric-based system for the remote monitoring of home-based dialysis patients.

PubMed

Montalibet, Amalric; Arkouche, Walid; Bogónez Franco, Paco; Bonnet, Stéphane; Clarion, Antoine; Delhomme, Georges; Géhin, Claudine; Gharbi, Sadok; Guillemaud, Régis; Jallon, Pierre; Massot, Bertrand; Pham, Pascale; Ribbe-Cornet, Eva; McAdams, Eric

2016-01-01

A key clinical challenge is to determine the desired 'dry weight' of a patient in order to terminate the dialysis procedure at the optimal moment and thus avoid the effects of over- and under-hydration. It has been found that the effects of haemodialysis on patients can be conveniently monitored using whole-body bioimpedance measurements. The identified need of assessing the hydrational status of patients undergoing haemodialysis at home gave rise to the present Dialydom (DIALYse à DOMicile) project. The aim of the project is to develop a convenient miniaturised impedance monitoring device for localised measurements (on the calf) in order to estimate an impedimetric hydrational index of the home-based patient, and to transmit this and other parameters to a remote clinical site. Many challenges must be overcome to develop a robust and valid home-based device. Some of these are presented in the paper.

Rehabilitation Risk Management: Enabling Data Analytics with Quantified Self and Smart Home Data.

PubMed

Hamper, Andreas; Eigner, Isabella; Wickramasinghe, Nilmini; Bodendorf, Freimut

2017-01-01

A variety of acute and chronic diseases require rehabilitation at home after treatment. Outpatient rehabilitation is crucial for the quality of the medical outcome but is mainly performed without medical supervision. Non-Compliance can lead to severe health risks and readmission to the hospital. While the patient is closely monitored in the hospital, methods and technologies to identify risks at home have to be developed. We analyze state-of-the-art monitoring systems and technologies and show possibilities to transfer these technologies into rehabilitation monitoring. For this purpose, we analyze sensor technology from the field of Quantified Self and Smart Homes. The available sensor data from this consumer grade technology is summarized to give an overview of the possibilities for medical data analytics. Subsequently, we show a conceptual roadmap to transfer data analytics methods to sensor based rehabilitation risk management.

Intelligent Systems for Assessing Aging Changes: Home-Based, Unobtrusive, and Continuous Assessment of Aging

PubMed Central

Maxwell, Shoshana A.; Mattek, Nora; Hayes, Tamara L.; Dodge, Hiroko; Pavel, Misha; Jimison, Holly B.; Wild, Katherine; Boise, Linda; Zitzelberger, Tracy A.

2011-01-01

Objectives. To describe a longitudinal community cohort study, Intelligent Systems for Assessing Aging Changes, that has deployed an unobtrusive home-based assessment platform in many seniors homes in the existing community. Methods. Several types of sensors have been installed in the homes of 265 elderly persons for an average of 33 months. Metrics assessed by the sensors include total daily activity, time out of home, and walking speed. Participants were given a computer as well as training, and computer usage was monitored. Participants are assessed annually with health and function questionnaires, physical examinations, and neuropsychological testing. Results. Mean age was 83.3 years, mean years of education was 15.5, and 73% of cohort were women. During a 4-week snapshot, participants left their home twice a day on average for a total of 208 min per day. Mean in-home walking speed was 61.0 cm/s. Participants spent 43% of days on the computer averaging 76 min per day. Discussion. These results demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of engaging seniors in a large-scale deployment of in-home activity assessment technology and the successful collection of these activity metrics. We plan to use this platform to determine if continuous unobtrusive monitoring may detect incident cognitive decline. PMID:21743050

Smart homes and home health monitoring technologies for older adults: A systematic review.

PubMed

Liu, Lili; Stroulia, Eleni; Nikolaidis, Ioanis; Miguel-Cruz, Antonio; Rios Rincon, Adriana

2016-07-01

Around the world, populations are aging and there is a growing concern about ways that older adults can maintain their health and well-being while living in their homes. The aim of this paper was to conduct a systematic literature review to determine: (1) the levels of technology readiness among older adults and, (2) evidence for smart homes and home-based health-monitoring technologies that support aging in place for older adults who have complex needs. We identified and analyzed 48 of 1863 relevant papers. Our analyses found that: (1) technology-readiness level for smart homes and home health monitoring technologies is low; (2) the highest level of evidence is 1b (i.e., one randomized controlled trial with a PEDro score ≥6); smart homes and home health monitoring technologies are used to monitor activities of daily living, cognitive decline and mental health, and heart conditions in older adults with complex needs; (3) there is no evidence that smart homes and home health monitoring technologies help address disability prediction and health-related quality of life, or fall prevention; and (4) there is conflicting evidence that smart homes and home health monitoring technologies help address chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The level of technology readiness for smart homes and home health monitoring technologies is still low. The highest level of evidence found was in a study that supported home health technologies for use in monitoring activities of daily living, cognitive decline, mental health, and heart conditions in older adults with complex needs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Ontology-based Context-aware System for Smart Homes: E-care@home.

PubMed

Alirezaie, Marjan; Renoux, Jennifer; Köckemann, Uwe; Kristoffersson, Annica; Karlsson, Lars; Blomqvist, Eva; Tsiftes, Nicolas; Voigt, Thiemo; Loutfi, Amy

2017-07-06

Smart home environments have a significant potential to provide for long-term monitoring of users with special needs in order to promote the possibility to age at home. Such environments are typically equipped with a number of heterogeneous sensors that monitor both health and environmental parameters. This paper presents a framework called E-care@home, consisting of an IoT infrastructure, which provides information with an unambiguous, shared meaning across IoT devices, end-users, relatives, health and care professionals and organizations. We focus on integrating measurements gathered from heterogeneous sources by using ontologies in order to enable semantic interpretation of events and context awareness. Activities are deduced using an incremental answer set solver for stream reasoning. The paper demonstrates the proposed framework using an instantiation of a smart environment that is able to perform context recognition based on the activities and the events occurring in the home.

An Ontology-based Context-aware System for Smart Homes: E-care@home

PubMed Central

Alirezaie, Marjan; Köckemann, Uwe; Kristoffersson, Annica; Karlsson, Lars; Blomqvist, Eva; Voigt, Thiemo; Loutfi, Amy

2017-01-01

Smart home environments have a significant potential to provide for long-term monitoring of users with special needs in order to promote the possibility to age at home. Such environments are typically equipped with a number of heterogeneous sensors that monitor both health and environmental parameters. This paper presents a framework called E-care@home, consisting of an IoT infrastructure, which provides information with an unambiguous, shared meaning across IoT devices, end-users, relatives, health and care professionals and organizations. We focus on integrating measurements gathered from heterogeneous sources by using ontologies in order to enable semantic interpretation of events and context awareness. Activities are deduced using an incremental answer set solver for stream reasoning. The paper demonstrates the proposed framework using an instantiation of a smart environment that is able to perform context recognition based on the activities and the events occurring in the home. PMID:28684686

A home monitoring program including real-time wireless home spirometry in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a pilot study on experiences and barriers.

PubMed

Moor, C C; Wapenaar, M; Miedema, J R; Geelhoed, J J M; Chandoesing, P P; Wijsenbeek, M S

2018-05-29

In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), home monitoring experiences are limited, not yet real-time available nor implemented in daily care. We evaluated feasibility and potential barriers of a new home monitoring program with real-time wireless home spirometry in IPF. Ten patients with IPF were asked to test this home monitoring program, including daily home spirometry, for four weeks. Measurements of home and hospital spirometry showed good agreement. All patients considered real-time wireless spirometry useful and highly feasible. Both patients and researchers suggested relatively easy solutions for the identified potential barriers regarding real-time home monitoring in IPF.

Ubiquitous monitoring of electrical household appliances.

PubMed

Lloret, Jaime; Macías, Elsa; Suárez, Alvaro; Lacuesta, Raquel

2012-11-07

The number of appliances at home is increasing continuously, mainly because they make our lives easier. Currently, technology is integrated in all objects of our daily life. TCP/IP let us monitor our home in real time and check ubiquitously if something is happening at home. Bearing in mind this idea, we have developed a low-cost system, which can be used in any type of electrical household appliance that takes information from the appliance and posts the information to the Twitter Social network. Several sensors placed in the household appliances gather the sensed data and send them wired or wirelessly, depending on the case, using small and cheap devices to a gateway located in the home. This gateway takes decisions, based on the received data, and sends notifications to Twitter. We have developed a software application that takes the values and decides when to issue an alarm to the registered users (Twitter friends of our smart home). The performance of our system has been measured taking into account the home network (using IEEE 802.3u and IEEE 802.11g) and the data publishing in Twitter. As a result, we have generated an original product and service for any electrical household appliance, regardless of the model and manufacturer, that helps home users improve their quality of life. The paper also shows that there is no system with the same innovative features like the ones presented in this paper.

A portable magnetic induction measurement system (PIMS).

PubMed

Cordes, Axel; Foussier, Jérôme; Pollig, Daniel; Leonhardt, Steffen

2012-02-22

For contactless monitoring of ventilation and heart activity, magnetic induction measurements are applicable. As the technique is harmless for the human body, it is well suited for long-term monitoring solutions, e.g., bedside monitoring, monitoring of home care patients, and the monitoring of persons in critical occupations. For such settings, a two-channel portable magnetic induction system has been developed, which is small and light enough to be fitted in a chair or bed. Because demodulation, control, and filtering are implemented on a front-end digital signal processor, a PC is not required (except for visualization/data storage during research and development). The system can be connected to a local area network (LAN) or wireless network (WiFi), allowing to connect several devices to a large monitoring system, e.g., for a residential home for the elderly or a hospital with low-risk patients not requiring standard ECG monitoring. To visualize data streams, a Qt-based (Qt-framework by Nokia, Espoo, Finland) monitoring application has been developed, which runs on Netbook computers, laptops, or standard PCs. To induce and measure the magnetic fields, external coils and amplifiers are required. This article describes the system and presents results for monitoring respiration and heart activity in a (divan) bed and for respiration monitoring in a chair. Planar configurations and orthogonal coil setups were examined during the measurement procedures. The measurement data were streamed over a LAN to a monitoring PC running Matlab (The MathWorks Inc, Natick, MA, USA).

Characterization of a multi-user indoor positioning system based on low cost depth vision (Kinect) for monitoring human activity in a smart home.

PubMed

Sevrin, Loïc; Noury, Norbert; Abouchi, Nacer; Jumel, Fabrice; Massot, Bertrand; Saraydaryan, Jacques

2015-01-01

An increasing number of systems use indoor positioning for many scenarios such as asset tracking, health care, games, manufacturing, logistics, shopping, and security. Many technologies are available and the use of depth cameras is becoming more and more attractive as this kind of device becomes affordable and easy to handle. This paper contributes to the effort of creating an indoor positioning system based on low cost depth cameras (Kinect). A method is proposed to optimize the calibration of the depth cameras, to describe the multi-camera data fusion and to specify a global positioning projection to maintain the compatibility with outdoor positioning systems. The monitoring of the people trajectories at home is intended for the early detection of a shift in daily activities which highlights disabilities and loss of autonomy. This system is meant to improve homecare health management at home for a better end of life at a sustainable cost for the community.

A sensor monitoring system for telemedicine, safety and security applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vlissidis, Nikolaos; Leonidas, Filippos; Giovanis, Christos; Marinos, Dimitrios; Aidinis, Konstantinos; Vassilopoulos, Christos; Pagiatakis, Gerasimos; Schmitt, Nikolaus; Pistner, Thomas; Klaue, Jirka

2017-02-01

A sensor system capable of medical, safety and security monitoring in avionic and other environments (e.g. homes) is examined. For application inside an aircraft cabin, the system relies on an optical cellular network that connects each seat to a server and uses a set of database applications to process data related to passengers' health, safety and security status. Health monitoring typically encompasses electrocardiogram, pulse oximetry and blood pressure, body temperature and respiration rate while safety and security monitoring is related to the standard flight attendance duties, such as cabin preparation for take-off, landing, flight in regions of turbulence, etc. In contrast to previous related works, this article focuses on the system's modules (medical and safety sensors and associated hardware), the database applications used for the overall control of the monitoring function and the potential use of the system for security applications. Further tests involving medical, safety and security sensing performed in an real A340 mock-up set-up are also described and reference is made to the possible use of the sensing system in alternative environments and applications, such as health monitoring within other means of transport (e.g. trains or small passenger sea vessels) as well as for remotely located home users, over a wired Ethernet network or the Internet.

A Behaviour Monitoring System (BMS) for Ambient Assisted Living

PubMed Central

Eisa, Samih

2017-01-01

Unusual changes in the regular daily mobility routine of an elderly person at home can be an indicator or early symptom of developing health problems. Sensor technology can be utilised to complement the traditional healthcare systems to gain a more detailed view of the daily mobility of a person at home when performing everyday tasks. We hypothesise that data collected from low-cost sensors such as presence and occupancy sensors can be analysed to provide insights on the daily mobility habits of the elderly living alone at home and to detect routine changes. We validate this hypothesis by designing a system that automatically learns the daily room-to-room transitions and permanence habits in each room at each time of the day and generates alarm notifications when deviations are detected. We present an algorithm to process the sensors’ data streams and compute sensor-driven features that describe the daily mobility routine of the elderly as part of the developed Behaviour Monitoring System (BMS). We are able to achieve low detection delay with confirmation time that is high enough to convey the detection of a set of common abnormal situations. We illustrate and evaluate BMS with synthetic data, generated by a developed data generator that was designed to mimic different user’s mobility profiles at home, and also with a real-life dataset collected from prior research work. Results indicate BMS detects several mobility changes that can be symptoms of common health problems. The proposed system is a useful approach for learning the mobility habits at the home environment, with the potential to detect behaviour changes that occur due to health problems, and therefore, motivating progress toward behaviour monitoring and elder’s care. PMID:28837105

Energy on the Home Front

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, Thomas W.

2011-11-01

This article explores a variety of ways to measure, adjust, and augment home energy usage. Particular examples of using electricity and gas utility meters, power/energy meters for individual devices, whole-home energy monitoring, infrared cameras, and thermal measurements are discussed—leading to a factor-of-four reduction in home energy use in the case discussed. The net efficiency performance of a stand-alone photovoltaic system is also presented. Ideas for reducing one's energy/carbon footprint both within the home and in the larger community are quantitatively evaluated.

78 FR 17224 - Environmental Impact Statement; Proposed South Puget Sound Prairie Habitat Conservation Plan...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-20

... operation of solid waste facilities; permitting and monitoring of wells, septic systems, and decommissioning of home oil tanks; maintenance and monitoring of water resources and associated facilities...

Usage monitoring of electrical devices in a smart home.

PubMed

Rahimi, Saba; Chan, Adrian D C; Goubran, Rafik A

2011-01-01

Profiling the usage of electrical devices within a smart home can be used as a method for determining an occupant's activities of daily living. A nonintrusive load monitoring system monitors the electrical consumption at a single electrical source (e.g., main electric utility service entry) and the operating schedules of individual devices are determined by disaggregating the composite electrical consumption waveforms. An electrical device's load signature plays a key role in nonintrusive load monitoring systems. A load signature is the unique electrical behaviour of an individual device when it is in operation. This paper proposes a feature-based model, using the real power and reactive power as features for describing the load signatures of individual devices. Experimental results for single device recognition for 7 devices show that the proposed approach can achieve 100% classification accuracy with discriminant analysis using Mahalanobis distances.

Metrics for Assessing the Reliability of a Telemedicine Remote Monitoring System

PubMed Central

Fox, Mark; Papadopoulos, Amy; Crump, Cindy

2013-01-01

Abstract Objective: The goal of this study was to assess using new metrics the reliability of a real-time health monitoring system in homes of older adults. Materials and Methods: The “MobileCare Monitor” system was installed into the homes of nine older adults >75 years of age for a 2-week period. The system consisted of a wireless wristwatch-based monitoring system containing sensors for location, temperature, and impacts and a “panic” button that was connected through a mesh network to third-party wireless devices (blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, weight scale, and a survey-administering device). To assess system reliability, daily phone calls instructed participants to conduct system tests and reminded them to fill out surveys and daily diaries. Phone reports and participant diary entries were checked against data received at a secure server. Results: Reliability metrics assessed overall system reliability, data concurrence, study effectiveness, and system usability. Except for the pulse oximeter, system reliability metrics varied between 73% and 92%. Data concurrence for proximal and distal readings exceeded 88%. System usability following the pulse oximeter firmware update varied between 82% and 97%. An estimate of watch-wearing adherence within the home was quite high, about 80%, although given the inability to assess watch-wearing when a participant left the house, adherence likely exceeded the 10 h/day requested time. In total, 3,436 of 3,906 potential measurements were obtained, indicating a study effectiveness of 88%. Conclusions: The system was quite effective in providing accurate remote health data. The different system reliability measures identify important error sources in remote monitoring systems. PMID:23611640

E-health blood pressure control program.

PubMed

Ahern, David K; Stinson, Lynda J; Uebelacker, Lisa A; Wroblewski, Joseph P; McMurray, Jerome H; Eaton, Charles B

2012-01-01

Both technological and human factors design requirements for integration of home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) into a patient centered medical home (PCMH) model primary care practice are described. Patients with uncontrolled hypertension were given home blood pressure (BP) monitors, and after a three-month run-in period introduced to either a high-tech only (HBPM connectivity to personal health record and tailored Web portal access) or a high-tech/"high-touch" (high-tech solution plus patient navigator [PN]) solution. Features of the Web portal included: BP graphing function, traffic-light feedback system of BP goal attainment, economic incentives for self-monitoring, and dual patient-facing and care-team-facing dashboard functions. The e-health BP control system with PN support was well received by patients, providers, and the healthcare team. Current e-health technology and limited technological literacy of many patients suggest that a PN or some other personnel resource may be required for the adoption of patient-facing technology in primary care.

Home blood pressure monitoring. Current knowledge and directions for future research.

PubMed

Reims, H; Fossum, E; Kjeldsen, S E; Julius, S

2001-01-01

Home blood pressure (BP) monitoring has become popular in clinical practice and several automated devices for home BP measurement are now recommendable. Home BP is generally lower than clinic BP, and similar to daytime ambulatory BP. Home BP measurement eliminates the white coat effect and provides a high number of readings, and it is considered more accurate and reproducible than clinic BP. It can improve the sensitivity and statistical power of clinical drug trials and may have a higher prognostic value than clinic BP. Home monitoring may improve compliance and BP control, and reduce costs of hypertension management. Diagnostic thresholds and treatment target values for home BP remain to be established by longitudinal studies. Until then, home BP monitoring is to be considered a supplement. However, high home BP may support or confirm the diagnosis made in the doctor's office, and low home BP may warrant ambulatory BP monitoring. During long-term follow-up, home BP monitoring provides an opportunity for close attention to BP levels and variations. The first international guidelines have established a consensus document with recommendations, including a proposal of preliminary diagnostic thresholds, but further research is needed to define the precise role of home BP monitoring in clinical practice.

Design and implementation of modular home security system with short messaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budijono, Santoso; Andrianto, Jeffri; Axis Novradin Noor, Muhammad

2014-03-01

Today we are living in 21st century where crime become increasing and everyone wants to secure they asset at their home. In that situation user must have system with advance technology so person do not worry when getting away from his home. It is therefore the purpose of this design to provide home security device, which send fast information to user GSM (Global System for Mobile) mobile device using SMS (Short Messaging System) and also activate - deactivate system by SMS. The Modular design of this Home Security System make expandable their capability by add more sensors on that system. Hardware of this system has been designed using microcontroller AT Mega 328, PIR (Passive Infra Red) motion sensor as the primary sensor for motion detection, camera for capturing images, GSM module for sending and receiving SMS and buzzer for alarm. For software this system using Arduino IDE for Arduino and Putty for testing connection programming in GSM module. This Home Security System can monitor home area that surrounding by PIR sensor and sending SMS, save images capture by camera, and make people panic by turn on the buzzer when trespassing surrounding area that detected by PIR sensor. The Modular Home Security System has been tested and succeed detect human movement.

Monitoring of carbon monoxide in residences with bulk wood pellet storage in the Northeast United States.

PubMed

Rossner, Alan; Jordan, Carolyn E; Wake, Cameron; Soto-Garcia, Lydia

2017-10-01

The interest in biomass fuel is continuing to expand globally and in the northeastern United States as wood pellets are becoming a primary source of fuel for residential and small commercial systems. Wood pellets for boilers are often stored in basement storage rooms or large bag-type containers. Due to the enclosed nature of these storage areas, the atmosphere may exhibit increased levels of carbon monoxide. Serious accidents in Europe have been reported over the last decade in which high concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) have been found in or near bulk pellet storage containers. The aim of this study was to characterize the CO concentrations in areas with indoor storage of bulk wood pellets. Data was obtained over approximately 7 months (December 2013 to June 2014) at 25 sites in New Hampshire and Massachusetts: 16 homes using wood pellet boilers with indoor pellet storage containers greater than or equal to 3 ton capacity; 4 homes with wood pellet heating systems with outdoor pellet storage; 4 homes using other heating fuels; and a university laboratory site. CO monitors were set up in homes to collect concentrations of CO in the immediate vicinity of wood pellet storage containers, and data were then compared to those of homes using fossil fuel systems. The homes monitored in this study provided a diverse set of housing stock spanning two and a half centuries of construction, with homes built from 1774 to 2013, representing a range of air exchange rates. The CO concentration data from each home was averaged hourly and then compared to a threshold of 9 ppm. While concentrations of CO were generally low for the homes studied, the need to properly design storage locations for pellets is and will remain a necessary component of wood pellet heating systems to minimize the risk of CO exposure. This paper is an assessment of carbon monoxide (CO) exposure from bulk wood pellet storage in homes in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Understanding the CO concentrations in homes allows for better designs for storage bins and ventilation for storage areas. Hence, uniform policies for stored wood pellets in homes, schools, and businesses can be framed to ensure occupant safety. Currently in New York State rebates for the installation of wood pellet boilers are only provided if the bulk pellet storage is outside of the home, yet states such as New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine currently do not have these restrictions.

Sensor Network Infrastructure for a Home Care Monitoring System

PubMed Central

Palumbo, Filippo; Ullberg, Jonas; Štimec, Ales; Furfari, Francesco; Karlsson, Lars; Coradeschi, Silvia

2014-01-01

This paper presents the sensor network infrastructure for a home care system that allows long-term monitoring of physiological data and everyday activities. The aim of the proposed system is to allow the elderly to live longer in their home without compromising safety and ensuring the detection of health problems. The system offers the possibility of a virtual visit via a teleoperated robot. During the visit, physiological data and activities occurring during a period of time can be discussed. These data are collected from physiological sensors (e.g., temperature, blood pressure, glucose) and environmental sensors (e.g., motion, bed/chair occupancy, electrical usage). The system can also give alarms if sudden problems occur, like a fall, and warnings based on more long-term trends, such as the deterioration of health being detected. It has been implemented and tested in a test environment and has been deployed in six real homes for a year-long evaluation. The key contribution of the paper is the presentation of an implemented system for ambient assisted living (AAL) tested in a real environment, combining the acquisition of sensor data, a flexible and adaptable middleware compliant with the OSGistandard and a context recognition application. The system has been developed in a European project called GiraffPlus. PMID:24573309

Sensor network infrastructure for a home care monitoring system.

PubMed

Palumbo, Filippo; Ullberg, Jonas; Stimec, Ales; Furfari, Francesco; Karlsson, Lars; Coradeschi, Silvia

2014-02-25

This paper presents the sensor network infrastructure for a home care system that allows long-term monitoring of physiological data and everyday activities. The aim of the proposed system is to allow the elderly to live longer in their home without compromising safety and ensuring the detection of health problems. The system offers the possibility of a virtual visit via a teleoperated robot. During the visit, physiological data and activities occurring during a period of time can be discussed. These data are collected from physiological sensors (e.g., temperature, blood pressure, glucose) and environmental sensors (e.g., motion, bed/chair occupancy, electrical usage). The system can also give alarms if sudden problems occur, like a fall, and warnings based on more long-term trends, such as the deterioration of health being detected. It has been implemented and tested in a test environment and has been deployed in six real homes for a year-long evaluation. The key contribution of the paper is the presentation of an implemented system for ambient assisted living (AAL) tested in a real environment, combining the acquisition of sensor data, a flexible and adaptable middleware compliant with the OSGistandard and a context recognition application. The system has been developed in a European project called GiraffPlus.

Passive in-home health and wellness monitoring: overview, value and examples.

PubMed

Alwan, Majd

2009-01-01

Modern sensor and communication technology, coupled with advances in data analysis and artificial intelligence techniques, is causing a paradigm shift in remote management and monitoring of chronic disease. In-home monitoring technology brings the added benefit of measuring individualized health status and reporting it to the care provider and caregivers alike, allowing timely and targeted preventive interventions, even in home and community based settings. This paper presents a paradigm for geriatric care based on monitoring older adults passively in their own living settings through placing sensors in their living environments or the objects they use. Activity and physiological data can be analyzed, archived and mined to detect indicators of early disease onset or changes in health conditions at various levels. Examples of monitoring systems are discussed and results from field evaluation pilot studies are summarized. The approach has shown great promise for a significant value proposition to all the stakeholders involved in caring for older adults. The paradigm would allow care providers to extend their services into the communities they serve.

Psycho-social aspects of personal health monitoring: a descriptive literature review.

PubMed

Muehlan, Holger; Schmidt, Silke

2013-01-01

We aimed at providing a short review on already published studies addressing psycho-social issues of personal health monitoring (PHM). Both core questions addressed within this review are: What is the impact of PHM on intended psycho-social and health-related outcomes? And which psycho-social issues affected by or related to PHM have already been investigated? This descriptive review based on a literature search using various databases (Psycinfo, Psyndex, Pubmed, SSCI). Resulting 428 abstracts were coded regarding their psycho-social content. Inspection of results was carried out along the relevance of the papers regarding psycho-social issues. Research in PHM focuses on telemonitoring and smart home applications: Tele-monitoring studies are directed to outcome-related questions, smart home studies to feasibility issues. Despite of technological matters, comparability of both systems in psycho-social issues is lacking. Tele-monitoring has been proven for impact on patient groups with chronic diseases, yet smart home still lacks evidence in health-related and psycho-social matters. Smart home applications have been investigated with respect to attitudes, perceptions and concerns of end-users, telemonitoring regarding acceptance and adherence.

A comparative study of a new wireless continuous cardiorespiratory monitor for the diagnosis and management of patients with congestive heart failure at home.

PubMed

Andrews, D; Gouda, M S; Higgins, S; Johnson, P; Williams, A; Vandenburg, M

2002-01-01

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major and increasing chronic disease in Western society, with a high mortality, morbidity and cost for unplanned hospital admissions. Continuous cardiorespiratory monitoring is required to detect Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR). We have tested a new wireless monitoring system and compared it with polysomnography (PSG) and respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) in six CHF patients with CSR in a sleep laboratory. The wireless system compared well with RIP for the detection of CSR but less well with PSG, which had unexpected but significant respiratory sensing errors that led to misclassification of the respiratory disorder present. The wireless system could be used to select CHF patients for better-customized treatment at home as part of a specialist-supported community telemedicine programme.

[Data security and the handling of patient data in home monitoring systems].

PubMed

Heydenreich, F; Jürgens, C; Tost, F

2009-09-01

Data security must be considered seriously in the context of telemedical home monitoring because of the transmission and communication of patients' personal data. The contract governing medical treatment allows the ophthalmologist to process all data relevant to treatment. In Germany the legal framework for this purpose is provided by the Data Protection Act, various German hospital acts, and codes of medical professional conduct. In principle, these rules apply to telemedical home monitoring as well as to common physician-patient relationships. The patient must be informed extensively in an understandable manner and must give his or her written consent. However, the advanced options of new IT technologies demand the development of technical and organizational concepts that guarantee compliance with legal and regulatory affairs, assure data security, and prevent data abuse.

Performance and Costs of Ductless Heat Pumps in Marine-Climate High-Performance Homes -- Habitat for Humanity The Woods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lubliner, Michael; Howard, Luke; Hales, David

The Woods is a Habitat for Humanity (HFH) community of ENERGY STAR Homes Northwest (ESHNW)-certified homes located in the marine climate of Tacoma/Pierce County, Washington. This research report builds on an earlier preliminary draft 2014 BA report, and includes significant billing analysis and cost effectiveness research from a collaborative, ongoing Ductless Heat Pump (DHP)research effort for Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013 and Octobermore » 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing such as HFH. Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013 and October 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing such as HFH.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kerrigan, P.

This report describes a research study that was conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Team. BSC seeks to research and report on the field monitoring of the performance of in-situ supplemental dehumidification systems in low energy, high performance homes in a hot-humid climate. The purpose of this research project was to observe and compare the humidity control performance. Specifically, the study sought to compare the interior conditions and mechanical systems operation between two distinct groups of houses; homes with a supplemental dehumidifier installed in addition to HVAC system, and homes without any supplemental dehumidification. The subjectsmore » of the study were 10 single-family, new construction homes in New Orleans, LA.« less

DC-based smart PV-powered home energy management system based on voltage matching and RF module

PubMed Central

Hasan, W. Z. W.

2017-01-01

The main tool for measuring system efficiency in homes and offices is the energy monitoring of the household appliances’ consumption. With the help of GUI through a PC or smart phone, there are various applications that can be developed for energy saving. This work describes the design and prototype implementation of a wireless PV-powered home energy management system under a DC-distribution environment, which allows remote monitoring of appliances’ energy consumptions and power rate quality. The system can be managed by a central computer, which obtains the energy data based on XBee RF modules that access the sensor measurements of system components. The proposed integrated prototype framework is characterized by low power consumption due to the lack of components and consists of three layers: XBee-based circuit for processing and communication architecture, solar charge controller, and solar-battery-load matching layers. Six precise analogue channels for data monitoring are considered to cover the energy measurements. Voltage, current and temperature analogue signals were accessed directly from the remote XBee node to be sent in real time with a sampling frequency of 11–123 Hz to capture the possible surge power. The performance shows that the developed prototype proves the DC voltage matching concept and is able to provide accurate and precise results. PMID:28934271

DC-based smart PV-powered home energy management system based on voltage matching and RF module.

PubMed

Sabry, Ahmad H; Hasan, W Z W; Ab Kadir, Mza; Radzi, M A M; Shafie, S

2017-01-01

The main tool for measuring system efficiency in homes and offices is the energy monitoring of the household appliances' consumption. With the help of GUI through a PC or smart phone, there are various applications that can be developed for energy saving. This work describes the design and prototype implementation of a wireless PV-powered home energy management system under a DC-distribution environment, which allows remote monitoring of appliances' energy consumptions and power rate quality. The system can be managed by a central computer, which obtains the energy data based on XBee RF modules that access the sensor measurements of system components. The proposed integrated prototype framework is characterized by low power consumption due to the lack of components and consists of three layers: XBee-based circuit for processing and communication architecture, solar charge controller, and solar-battery-load matching layers. Six precise analogue channels for data monitoring are considered to cover the energy measurements. Voltage, current and temperature analogue signals were accessed directly from the remote XBee node to be sent in real time with a sampling frequency of 11-123 Hz to capture the possible surge power. The performance shows that the developed prototype proves the DC voltage matching concept and is able to provide accurate and precise results.

Human Activity Recognition from Smart-Phone Sensor Data using a Multi-Class Ensemble Learning in Home Monitoring.

PubMed

Ghose, Soumya; Mitra, Jhimli; Karunanithi, Mohan; Dowling, Jason

2015-01-01

Home monitoring of chronically ill or elderly patient can reduce frequent hospitalisations and hence provide improved quality of care at a reduced cost to the community, therefore reducing the burden on the healthcare system. Activity recognition of such patients is of high importance in such a design. In this work, a system for automatic human physical activity recognition from smart-phone inertial sensors data is proposed. An ensemble of decision trees framework is adopted to train and predict the multi-class human activity system. A comparison of our proposed method with a multi-class traditional support vector machine shows significant improvement in activity recognition accuracies.

Non-invasive, home-based electroencephalography hypoglycaemia warning system for personal monitoring using skin surface electrodes: a single-case feasibility study.

PubMed

Clewett, Christopher J; Langley, Phillip; Bateson, Anthony D; Asghar, Aziz; Wilkinson, Antony J

2016-03-01

Hypoglycaemia unawareness is a common condition associated with increased risk of severe hypoglycaemia. The purpose of the authors' study was to develop a simple to use, home-based and non-invasive hypoglycaemia warning system based on electroencephalography (EEG), and to demonstrate its use in a single-case feasibility study. A participant with type 1 diabetes forms a single-person case study where blood sugar levels and EEG were recorded. EEG was recorded using skin surface electrodes placed behind the ear located within the T3 region by the participant in the home. EEG was analysed retrospectively to develop an algorithm which would trigger a warning if EEG changes associated with hypoglycaemia onset were detected. All hypoglycaemia events were detected by the EEG hypoglycaemia warning algorithm. Warnings were triggered with blood glucose concentration levels at or below 4.2 mmol/l in this participant and no warnings were issued when in euglycaemia. The feasibility of a non-invasive EEG-based hypoglycaemia warning system for personal monitoring in the home has been demonstrated in a single case study. The results suggest that further studies are warranted to evaluate the system prospectively in a larger group of participants.

SleepSense: A Noncontact and Cost-Effective Sleep Monitoring System.

PubMed

Lin, Feng; Zhuang, Yan; Song, Chen; Wang, Aosen; Li, Yiran; Gu, Changzhan; Li, Changzhi; Xu, Wenyao

2017-02-01

Quality of sleep is an important indicator of health and well being. Recent developments in the field of in-home sleep monitoring have the potential to enhance a person's sleeping experience and contribute to an overall sense of well being. Existing in-home sleep monitoring devices either fail to provide adequate sleep information or are obtrusive to use. To overcome these obstacles, a noncontact and cost-effective sleep monitoring system, named SleepSense, is proposed for continuous recognition of the sleep status, including on-bed movement, bed exit, and breathing section. SleepSense consists of three parts: a Doppler radar-based sensor, a robust automated radar demodulation module, and a sleep status recognition framework. Herein, several time-domain and frequency-domain features are extracted for the sleep recognition framework. A prototype of SleepSense is presented and evaluated using two sets of experiments. In the short-term controlled experiment, the SleepSense achieves an overall 95.1% accuracy rate in identifying various sleep status. In the 75-minute sleep study, SleepSense demonstrates wide usability in real life. The error rate for breathing rate extraction in this study is only 6.65%. These experimental results indicate that SleepSense is an effective and promising solution for in-home sleep monitoring.

Home apnea monitor use - infants

MedlinePlus

... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000755.htm Home apnea monitor use - infants To use the sharing ... portable. Why is an Apnea Monitor Used at Home? A monitor may be needed when: Your baby ...

WSN- and IOT-Based Smart Homes and Their Extension to Smart Buildings

PubMed Central

Ghayvat, Hemant; Mukhopadhyay, Subhas; Gui, Xiang; Suryadevara, Nagender

2015-01-01

Our research approach is to design and develop reliable, efficient, flexible, economical, real-time and realistic wellness sensor networks for smart home systems. The heterogeneous sensor and actuator nodes based on wireless networking technologies are deployed into the home environment. These nodes generate real-time data related to the object usage and movement inside the home, to forecast the wellness of an individual. Here, wellness stands for how efficiently someone stays fit in the home environment and performs his or her daily routine in order to live a long and healthy life. We initiate the research with the development of the smart home approach and implement it in different home conditions (different houses) to monitor the activity of an inhabitant for wellness detection. Additionally, our research extends the smart home system to smart buildings and models the design issues related to the smart building environment; these design issues are linked with system performance and reliability. This research paper also discusses and illustrates the possible mitigation to handle the ISM band interference and attenuation losses without compromising optimum system performance. PMID:25946630

WSN- and IOT-Based Smart Homes and Their Extension to Smart Buildings.

PubMed

Ghayvat, Hemant; Mukhopadhyay, Subhas; Gui, Xiang; Suryadevara, Nagender

2015-05-04

Our research approach is to design and develop reliable, efficient, flexible, economical, real-time and realistic wellness sensor networks for smart home systems. The heterogeneous sensor and actuator nodes based on wireless networking technologies are deployed into the home environment. These nodes generate real-time data related to the object usage and movement inside the home, to forecast the wellness of an individual. Here, wellness stands for how efficiently someone stays fit in the home environment and performs his or her daily routine in order to live a long and healthy life. We initiate the research with the development of the smart home approach and implement it in different home conditions (different houses) to monitor the activity of an inhabitant for wellness detection. Additionally, our research extends the smart home system to smart buildings and models the design issues related to the smart building environment; these design issues are linked with system performance and reliability. This research paper also discusses and illustrates the possible mitigation to handle the ISM band interference and attenuation losses without compromising optimum system performance.

Ubiquitous Monitoring of Electrical Household Appliances

PubMed Central

Lloret, Jaime; Macías, Elsa; Suárez, Alvaro; Lacuesta, Raquel

2012-01-01

The number of appliances at home is increasing continuously, mainly because they make our lives easier. Currently, technology is integrated in all objects of our daily life. TCP/IP let us monitor our home in real time and check ubiquitously if something is happening at home. Bearing in mind this idea, we have developed a low-cost system, which can be used in any type of electrical household appliance that takes information from the appliance and posts the information to the Twitter Social network. Several sensors placed in the household appliances gather the sensed data and send them wired or wirelessly, depending on the case, using small and cheap devices to a gateway located in the home. This gateway takes decisions, based on the received data, and sends notifications to Twitter. We have developed a software application that takes the values and decides when to issue an alarm to the registered users (Twitter friends of our smart home). The performance of our system has been measured taking into account the home network (using IEEE 802.3u and IEEE 802.11g) and the data publishing in Twitter. As a result, we have generated an original product and service for any electrical household appliance, regardless of the model and manufacturer, that helps home users improve their quality of life. The paper also shows that there is no system with the same innovative features like the ones presented in this paper. PMID:23202205

Keeping a Beat on the Heart

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liszka, Kathy J.; Mackin, Michael A.; Liehter, Michael J.; York, David W.; Pillai, Dilip; Rosenbaum, David S.

2005-01-01

Feel the relief of a patient suffering from heart arrhythmia, who is able to return home while having her heart monitored by health professionals 24 hours a day, without the fear that she will miss an important indicator and suffer a fatal heart attack - using technology originally developed to conduct experiments on the Space Shuttle. Approximately 400,000 Americans die every year from sudden heart attacks . Medical research revealed that patterns of electrical activity in the heart can act as predictors of these lethal cardiac events known as arrhythmias. Fortunately, certain arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation (loss of regular heartbeat and subsequent loss of function) and ventricular tachycardia (rapid heartbeats), can be detected and appropriately treated. Today, patients at moderate risk of arrhythmias can benefit from technology that would permit long- term continuous monitoring of electrical cardiac rhythms outside the hospital environment in the comfort of their own homes. Medical telemetry systems, also known as telemedicine, are evolving rapidly as wireless communication technology advances, evidenced by the commercial products and research prototypes for remote health monitoring that have appeared in recent years. Wireless systems allow patients to move freely in their home and work environment while being monitored remotely by health care professionals.

SQUID: sensorized shirt with smartphone interface for exercise monitoring and home rehabilitation.

PubMed

Farjadian, Amir B; Sivak, Mark L; Mavroidis, Constantinos

2013-06-01

Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States. There is a need for new technological adjuncts to expedite patients' scheduled discharge from hospital and pursue rehabilitation procedure at home. SQUID is a low-cost, smart shirt that incorporates a six-channel electromyography (EMG) and heart rate data acquisition module to deliver objective audiovisual and haptic biofeedback to the patient. The sensorized shirt is interfaced with a smartphone application, for the subject's usage at home, as well as the online database, for the therapist's remote supervision from hospital. A single healthy subject was recruited to investigate the system functionality during improperly performed exercise. The system can potentially be used in automated, remote monitoring of variety of physical therapy exercises, rooted in strength or coordination training of specific muscle groups.

Comparison of different coil positions for ventilation monitoring with contact-less magnetic impedance measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cordes, A.; Pollig, D.; Leonhardt, S.

2010-04-01

For monitoring the health status of individuals, proper monitoring of ventilation is desirable. Therefore, a continuous measurement technique is an advantage for many patients since it allows personal home care scenarios. As an example, monitoring of elderly people at home could enable them to live in their familiar environment on their own with the safety of a continuous monitoring. Therefore, a measurement technique without the restriction of mobility is required. Since it is possible to monitor ventilation with magnetic impedance measurements without conductive contact, this technique is well suited for the mentioned scenario. Integrated in a chair, a person's health state could be monitored in many situations, e.g. during meals, while watching TV or reading a book. In this paper, we compare different positions of coil arrays for a magnetic impedance measurement system integrated in a chair in order to monitor ventilation continuously. For limiting the costs and technical complexity of the magnetic impedance measurement system, we have a focus on coil configurations with one RF channel. To limit the needed space and thickness of the array in the backrest, planar gradiometer coil setups are investigated. All measurements will be performed with a new developed portable magnetic impedance measurement system and a standard office chair.

A review of smart homes- present state and future challenges.

PubMed

Chan, Marie; Estève, Daniel; Escriba, Christophe; Campo, Eric

2008-07-01

In the era of information technology, the elderly and disabled can be monitored with numerous intelligent devices. Sensors can be implanted into their home for continuous mobility assistance and non-obtrusive disease prevention. Modern sensor-embedded houses, or smart houses, cannot only assist people with reduced physical functions but help resolve the social isolation they face. They are capable of providing assistance without limiting or disturbing the resident's daily routine, giving him or her greater comfort, pleasure, and well-being. This article presents an international selection of leading smart home projects, as well as the associated technologies of wearable/implantable monitoring systems and assistive robotics. The latter are often designed as components of the larger smart home environment. The paper will conclude by discussing future challenges of the domain.

Development of Home-Based Sleep Monitoring System for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

PubMed

Wu, Peirong; Chen, Guan-Ting; Cui, Yanyan; Li, Jin-Wei; Kuo, Terry B J; Chang, Polun

2017-01-01

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) has been proven to increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and diabetes. If people would like to know whether they are suffering from this sleep disorder, they need to go to particular hospital with which a sleep center that could perform polysomnography (PSG); however, for most people, this is not convenient. Consequently, the goal of this study is to develop a convenient, lower priced, and easy-to-use home-based sleep monitoring system. The researchers have developed the "Sleep Healthcare Management System" for OSA patients and healthcare providers. It combines smartphone and wearable devices that can perform real-time sleep monitoring. Healthcare providers could apply their professional knowledge to provide customized feedback via a web application. When the patient is diagnosed with an abnormal sleep health condition, healthcare providers may be able to provide appropriate and timely care.

A mobile phone based remote patient monitoring system for chronic disease management.

PubMed

Trudel, Mathieu; Cafazzo, Joseph A; Hamill, Melinda; Igharas, Walter; Tallevi, Kevin; Picton, Peter; Lam, Jack; Rossos, Peter G; Easty, Anthony C; Logan, Alexander

2007-01-01

Rising concern over the poor state of chronic disease management led to the user-informed design and development of a home tele-monitoring system. Focus groups with patients and primary care providers guided the research team towards a design that would accommodate the workflow and concerns of the healthcare providers and the low use and comfort with technology found among the patient population. The system was trialed in a before-and-after pilot study of 34 patients with diabetes and hypertension. Findings demonstrate a significant improvement in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. An RCT beginning in 2007 is being conducted to confirm these findings. It is hypothesized that this user-centred approach, utilizing focus groups, iterative design and human factors methods of evaluation, will lead to the next-generation of home tele-monitoring applications that are more intuitive, less cumbersome, and ultimately bring about greater patient compliance and better physician management.

Real world implementation lessons and outcomes from the Worker Interactive Networking (WIN) project: workplace-based online caregiver support and remote monitoring of elders at home.

PubMed

Mahoney, Diane M F; Mutschler, Phyllis H; Tarlow, Barbara; Liss, Ellen

2008-04-01

The objective of this research was to determine the feasibility of and receptivity to the first computerized workplace-based direct caregiver intervention and to assess the effects on businesses, working family caregivers, and their elderly relatives. Working family caregivers, with at least one health and/or safety concern related to an elder residing alone at home during the workday, were recruited from five companies (n = 27). Caregivers received free computer access to the Worker Interactive Networking (WIN) Internet online caregiver support group and a remote elder monitoring system at home for 6 months. The remote monitoring system provided Web-based status reports and e-mail/pager alerts when individualized parameters were exceeded. Motion sensor signals were transmitted to a transponder that uploaded via wireless cellular communications to the project server, thereby not interfering with elders' telephone use. Formative qualitative analyses clarified acceptance and implementation issues. Summative quantitative evaluation determined pilot intervention effects and was conducted by external evaluators. Despite interoperability and cellular reception issues, the system was successfully deployed across four states to a variety of businesses and housing types. Positive results occurred on worker morale, productivity, and reduction of caregiver stress. Participants found it easy to learn and use. Elders did not find the technology "intrusive" or "isolating." Contrary to their expectations, managers reported no abuse of Internet access. Workers expressed a willingness to pay for a similar system in the future ranging from $10 to $130, depending on the features. They would pay the most for the option involving a geriatric nurse coach. The WIN system innovatively tailored to users' wants, and provided users customized control and personalized support. Use of the system was associated with positive outcomes. Enrollment response suggests a specific niche market for remote home monitoring, making it a manageable employee benefit.

A personalized health-monitoring system for elderly by combining rules and case-based reasoning.

PubMed

Ahmed, Mobyen Uddin

2015-01-01

Health-monitoring system for elderly in home environment is a promising solution to provide efficient medical services that increasingly interest by the researchers within this area. It is often more challenging when the system is self-served and functioning as personalized provision. This paper proposed a personalized self-served health-monitoring system for elderly in home environment by combining general rules with a case-based reasoning approach. Here, the system generates feedback, recommendation and alarm in a personalized manner based on elderly's medical information and health parameters such as blood pressure, blood glucose, weight, activity, pulse, etc. A set of general rules has used to classify individual health parameters. The case-based reasoning approach is used to combine all different health parameters, which generates an overall classification of health condition. According to the evaluation result considering 323 cases and k=2 i.e., top 2 most similar retrieved cases, the sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy are achieved as 90%, 97% and 96% respectively. The preliminary result of the system is acceptable since the feedback; recommendation and alarm messages are personalized and differ from the general messages. Thus, this approach could be possibly adapted for other situations in personalized elderly monitoring.

Designing of smart home automation system based on Raspberry Pi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, Ravi Prakash; Singh, Bhanu Pratap; Sharma, Mahesh Kumar; Wattanawisuth, Nattapol; Leeprechanon, Nopbhorn

2016-03-01

Locally networked or remotely controlled home automation system becomes a popular paradigm because of the numerous advantages and is suitable for academic research. This paper proposes a method for an implementation of Raspberry Pi based home automation system presented with an android phone access interface. The power consumption profile across the connected load is measured accurately through programming. Users can access the graph of total power consumption with respect to time worldwide using their Dropbox account. An android application has been developed to channelize the monitoring and controlling operation of home appliances remotely. This application facilitates controlling of operating pins of Raspberry Pi by pressing the corresponding key for turning "on" and "off" of any desired appliance. Systems can range from the simple room lighting control to smart microcontroller based hybrid systems incorporating several other additional features. Smart home automation systems are being adopted to achieve flexibility, scalability, security in the sense of data protection through the cloud-based data storage protocol, reliability, energy efficiency, etc.

Designing of smart home automation system based on Raspberry Pi

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saini, Ravi Prakash; Singh, Bhanu Pratap; Sharma, Mahesh Kumar

Locally networked or remotely controlled home automation system becomes a popular paradigm because of the numerous advantages and is suitable for academic research. This paper proposes a method for an implementation of Raspberry Pi based home automation system presented with an android phone access interface. The power consumption profile across the connected load is measured accurately through programming. Users can access the graph of total power consumption with respect to time worldwide using their Dropbox account. An android application has been developed to channelize the monitoring and controlling operation of home appliances remotely. This application facilitates controlling of operating pinsmore » of Raspberry Pi by pressing the corresponding key for turning “on” and “off” of any desired appliance. Systems can range from the simple room lighting control to smart microcontroller based hybrid systems incorporating several other additional features. Smart home automation systems are being adopted to achieve flexibility, scalability, security in the sense of data protection through the cloud-based data storage protocol, reliability, energy efficiency, etc.« less

Hands-On Experiences in Deploying Cost-Effective Ambient-Assisted Living Systems

PubMed Central

Dasios, Athanasios; Gavalas, Damianos; Pantziou, Grammati; Konstantopoulos, Charalampos

2015-01-01

Older adults’ preferences to remain independent in their own homes along with the high costs of nursing home care have motivated the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies which aim at improving the safety, health conditions and wellness of the elderly. This paper reports hands-on experiences in designing, implementing and operating UbiCare, an AAL based prototype system for elderly home care monitoring. The monitoring is based on the recording of environmental parameters like temperature and light intensity as well as micro-level incidents which allows one to infer daily activities like moving, sitting, sleeping, usage of electrical appliances and plumbing components. The prototype is built upon inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware (e.g., various sensors, Arduino microcontrollers, ZigBee-compatible wireless communication modules) and license-free software, thereby ensuring low system deployment costs. The network comprises nodes placed in a house’s main rooms or mounted on furniture, one wearable node, one actuator node and a centralized processing element (coordinator). Upon detecting significant deviations from the ordinary activity patterns of individuals and/or sudden falls, the system issues automated alarms which may be forwarded to authorized caregivers via a variety of communication channels. Furthermore, measured environmental parameters and activity incidents may be monitored through standard web interfaces. PMID:26094631

Hands-On Experiences in Deploying Cost-Effective Ambient-Assisted Living Systems.

PubMed

Dasios, Athanasios; Gavalas, Damianos; Pantziou, Grammati; Konstantopoulos, Charalampos

2015-06-18

Older adults' preferences to remain independent in their own homes along with the high costs of nursing home care have motivated the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies which aim at improving the safety, health conditions and wellness of the elderly. This paper reports hands-on experiences in designing, implementing and operating UbiCare, an AAL based prototype system for elderly home care monitoring. The monitoring is based on the recording of environmental parameters like temperature and light intensity as well as micro-level incidents which allows one to infer daily activities like moving, sitting, sleeping, usage of electrical appliances and plumbing components. The prototype is built upon inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware (e.g., various sensors, Arduino microcontrollers, ZigBee-compatible wireless communication modules) and license-free software, thereby ensuring low system deployment costs. The network comprises nodes placed in a house's main rooms or mounted on furniture, one wearable node, one actuator node and a centralized processing element (coordinator). Upon detecting significant deviations from the ordinary activity patterns of individuals and/or sudden falls, the system issues automated alarms which may be forwarded to authorized caregivers via a variety of communication channels. Furthermore, measured environmental parameters and activity incidents may be monitored through standard web interfaces.

Home medical monitoring network based on embedded technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Guozhong; Deng, Wenyi; Yan, Bixi; Lv, Naiguang

2006-11-01

Remote medical monitoring network for long-term monitoring of physiological variables would be helpful for recovery of patients as people are monitored at more comfortable conditions. Furthermore, long-term monitoring would be beneficial to investigate slowly developing deterioration in wellness status of a subject and provide medical treatment as soon as possible. The home monitor runs on an embedded microcomputer Rabbit3000 and interfaces with different medical monitoring module through serial ports. The network based on asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) or local area network (LAN) is established and a client - server model, each embedded home medical monitor is client and the monitoring center is the server, is applied to the system design. The client is able to provide its information to the server when client's request of connection to the server is permitted. The monitoring center focuses on the management of the communications, the acquisition of medical data, and the visualization and analysis of the data, etc. Diagnosing model of sleep apnea syndrome is built basing on ECG, heart rate, respiration wave, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, air temperature of mouth cavity or nasal cavity, so sleep status can be analyzed by physiological data acquired as people in sleep. Remote medical monitoring network based on embedded micro Internetworking technology have advantages of lower price, convenience and feasibility, which have been tested by the prototype.

Status and Needs Research for On-line Monitoring of VOCs Emissions from Stationary Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Gang; Wang, Qiang; Zhong, Qi; Zhao, Jinbao; Yang, Kai

2018-01-01

Based on atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution control requirements during the twelfth-five year plan and the current status of monitoring and management at home and abroad, instrumental architecture and technical characteristics of continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS) for VOCs emission from stationary sources are investigated and researched. Technological development needs of VOCs emission on-line monitoring techniques for stationary sources in china are proposed from the system sampling pretreatment technology and analytical measurement techniques.

Seasonal variation in home blood pressure: findings from nationwide web-based monitoring in Japan

PubMed Central

Miura, Katsuyuki; Obayashi, Keiichi; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Nakajima, Hiroshi; Shiga, Toshikazu; Ueshima, Hirotsugu

2018-01-01

Objectives Our aim was to assess seasonal variation in home blood pressure (BP) among free-living nationwide participants using home BP values accumulated from a web-based healthcare platform established in Japan. Settings An observational study. OMRON Healthcare Co., Ltd. has been developing web-based personal healthcare record systems in Japan since November 2010; over two million voluntary participants had joined this platform in September 2015. Nationwide home BP measurements made by oscillometric-type electronic sphygmomanometers from over 110 000 voluntary participants have been transmitted to the system from devices. Participants Seasonal variation in home BP was evaluated among 64 536 (51 335 men, 13 201 women; mean age 52.9 years) free-living nationwide users for whom data were automatically and simultaneously transmitted to the system from devices. Primary outcome measures Mean monthly and weekly home BP. Results In multiple regression analysis, the relationship between BP and temperature was a significant inverse association, independent of age, gender and geological locations. Highest and lowest BP was observed in December and July, respectively. Substantial seasonal differences in the mean values of morning and evening home systolic BP between summer and winter were 6.2 mmHg and 5.5 mmHg in men, and 7.3 mmHg and 6.5 mmHg in women. Seasonal variation was a little greater in older (7.3 mmHg in men, 8.7 mmHg in women) than in younger individuals (5.8 mmHg in men, 6.5 mmHg in women). BP from February to July was approximately 1.5 mmHg lower than the value from August to December. Conclusions A web-based healthcare platform has enabled easier monitoring of population-wide BP. Tighter BP control is necessary in winter than in summer, and especially in a colder climate toward winter than toward summer. New technologies using web-based self-monitoring systems for health-related indexes are expected to initiate a new phase of cardiovascular disease prevention and public health promotion. PMID:29306878

Low-cost and disposable pressure sensor mat for non-invasive sleep and movement monitoring applications.

PubMed

Abraham, Jose K; Sullivan, Shawn; Ranganathan, Sridhar

2011-01-01

Sleep has profound effects on the physical and mental well-being of an individual. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Sleep Disorder Research Plan gives particular emphasis to non-invasive sleep monitoring methods. Older adults experience sleep fragmentation due to sleep disorders. Unobtrusive non-contact monitoring can be the only realistic solution for long term home-based sleep monitoring. The demand for a low-cost and non-invasive sleep monitoring system for in-home use is more than before due to an increasingly stressful life style. Cost and complexity of current sensor elements hinder the development of low-cost sleep monitoring devices for in-home use. This paper presents the design, development and implementation of a low-cost and disposable pressure sensor mat that could be useful for in-home sleep and movement monitoring applications. The sensor mat design is based on a compressible foam sandwiched between two orthogonal arrays of cPaper capacitance sensors. A low-cost conducting paper has been developed for use as the capacitance sensor electrode. Typical mat design uses a 3 mm thick foam with 5 mm row/column grid array shows that it has a measurement resolution of 0.1 PSI pressure. The resolution can be controlled by both modifying properties of the conducting paper and the foam. Since this pressure mat design is based on low-cost paper, the sensor electrodes are disposable or semi-durable and hence it is ideal for the use in point-of-care physiological monitoring, pervasive healthcare and consumer electronic devices.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butler, T.; Curtis, O.; Stephenson, R.

As part of the NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Southface partnered with TaC Studios, an Atlanta-based architecture firm specializing in residential and light commercial design, on the construction of a new test home in Atlanta, GA, in the mixed humid climate. This home serves as a residence and home office for the firm's owners, as well as a demonstration of their design approach to potential and current clients. Southface believes the home demonstrates current best practices for the mixed-humid climate, including a building envelope featuring advanced air sealing details and low density spray foam insulation, glazing that exceeds ENERGY STARmore » requirements, and a high performance heating and cooling system. Construction quality and execution was a high priority for TaC Studios and was ensured by a third party review process. Post-construction testing showed that the project met stated goals for envelope performance, an air infiltration rate of 2.15 ACH50. The homeowners wished to further validate whole house energy savings through the project's involvement with Building America and this long-term monitoring effort. As a Building America test home, this home was evaluated to detail whole house energy use, end use loads, and the efficiency and operation of the ground source heat pump and associated systems. Given that the home includes many non-typical end use loads including a home office, pool, landscape water feature, and other luxury features not accounted for in Building America modeling tools, these end uses were separately monitored to determine their impact on overall energy consumption.« less

MIMO Radar System for Respiratory Monitoring Using Tx and Rx Modulation with M-Sequence Codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miwa, Takashi; Ogiwara, Shun; Yamakoshi, Yoshiki

The importance of respiratory monitoring systems during sleep have increased due to early diagnosis of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) in the home. This paper presents a simple respiratory monitoring system suitable for home use having 3D ranging of targets. The range resolution and azimuth resolution are obtained by a stepped frequency transmitting signal and MIMO arrays with preferred pair M-sequence codes doubly modulating in transmission and reception, respectively. Due to the use of these codes, Gold sequence codes corresponding to all the antenna combinations are equivalently modulated in receiver. The signal to interchannel interference ratio of the reconstructed image is evaluated by numerical simulations. The results of experiments on a developed prototype 3D-MIMO radar system show that this system can extract only the motion of respiration of a human subject 2m apart from a metallic rotatable reflector. Moreover, it is found that this system can successfully measure the respiration information of sleeping human subjects for 96.6 percent of the whole measurement time except for instances of large posture change.

Minimal hardware Bluetooth tracking for long-term at-home elder supervision.

PubMed

Kelly, Damian; McLoone, Sean; Farrell, Ronan

2010-01-01

The ability to automatically detect the location of an elder within their own home is a significant enabler of remote elder supervision and interaction applications. This location information is typically generated via a myriad of sensors throughout the home environment. Even with high sensor redundancy, there are still situations where traditional elder monitoring systems are unable to resolve the location of the elder. This work develops a minimal infrastructure radio-frequency localisation system for long-term elder location tracking. An RFID room-labelling technique is employed and with it, the localisation system developed in this work is shown to exhibit superior performance to more traditional localisation systems in realistic long-term deployments.

Spatiotemporal data visualisation for homecare monitoring of elderly people.

PubMed

Juarez, Jose M; Ochotorena, Jose M; Campos, Manuel; Combi, Carlo

2015-10-01

Elderly people who live alone can be assisted by home monitoring systems that identify risk scenarios such as falls, fatigue symptoms or burglary. Given that these systems have to manage spatiotemporal data, human intervention is required to validate automatic alarms due to the high number of false positives and the need for context interpretation. The goal of this work was to provide tools to support human action, to identify such potential risk scenarios based on spatiotemporal data visualisation. We propose the MTA (multiple temporal axes) model, a visual representation of temporal information of the activity of a single person at different locations. The main goal of this model is to visualize the behaviour of a person in their home, facilitating the identification of health-risk scenarios and repetitive patterns. We evaluate the model's insight capacity compared with other models using a standard evaluation protocol. We also test its practical suitability of the MTA graphical model in a commercial home monitoring system. In particular, we implemented 8VISU, a visualization tool based on MTA. MTA proved to be more than 90% accurate in identify non-risk scenarios, independently of the length of the record visualised. When the spatial complexity was increased (e.g. number of rooms) the model provided good accuracy form up to 5 rooms. Therefore, user preferences and user performance seem to be balanced. Moreover, it also gave high sensitivity levels (over 90%) for 5-8 rooms. Fall is the most recurrent incident for elderly people. The MTA model outperformed the other models considered in identifying fall scenarios (66% of correctness) and was the second best for burglary and fatigue scenarios (36% of correctness). Our experiments also confirm the hypothesis that cyclic models are the most suitable for fatigue scenarios, the Spiral and MTA models obtaining most positive identifications. In home monitoring systems, spatiotemporal visualization is a useful tool for identifying risk and preventing home accidents in elderly people living alone. The MTA model helps the visualisation in different stages of the temporal data analysis process. In particular, its explicit representation of space and movement is useful for identifying potential scenarios of risk, while the spiral structure can be used for the identification of recurrent patterns. The results of the experiments and the experience using the visualization tool 8VISU proof the potential of the MTA graphical model to mine temporal data and to support caregivers using home monitoring infrastructures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"It's Like a Cyber-Security Blanket": The Utility of Remote Activity Monitoring in Family Dementia Care.

PubMed

Mitchell, Lauren L; Peterson, Colleen M; Rud, Shaina R; Jutkowitz, Eric; Sarkinen, Andrielle; Trost, Sierra; Porta, Carolyn M; Finlay, Jessica M; Gaugler, Joseph E

2018-03-01

Technologies have emerged that aim to help older persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) remain at home while also supporting their caregiving family members. However, the usefulness of these innovations, particularly in home-based care contexts, remains underexplored. The current study evaluated the acceptability and utility of an in-home remote activity monitoring (RAM) system for 30 family caregivers of persons with ADRD via quantitative survey data collected over a 6-month period and qualitative survey and interview data collected for up to 18 months. A parallel convergent mixed methods design was employed. The integrated qualitative and quantitative data suggested that RAM technology offered ongoing monitoring and provided caregivers with a sense of security. Considerable customization was needed so that RAM was most appropriate for persons with ADRD. The findings have important clinical implications when considering how RAM can supplement, or potentially substitute for, ADRD family care.

Quadruplet pregnancy: contemporary management and outcome.

PubMed

Elliott, J P; Radin, T G

1992-09-01

Quadruplets are occurring more frequently as assisted-reproduction techniques improve fertility in couples previously unable to conceive. Ten quadruplet pregnancies cared for in one perinatal practice over 5 years had excellent outcome. The mean gestational age at delivery was 32.5 weeks, compared with approximately 30 weeks in the literature. There were no perinatal deaths and no long-term morbidity. Our patients were compared with a series of 57 consecutive patients with quadruplet pregnancies monitored by a home monitoring system. Parity of 1 or more appeared to improve outcome. Pregnancy-induced hypertension occurred in nine of our pregnancies and necessitated delivery in seven instances. Fetal distress was responsible for two deliveries and uncontrollable preterm labor for only one. Key points in our management protocol include prophylactic use of low-dose aspirin, home contraction monitoring, use of terbutaline pump tocolysis, and bed rest at home starting at 16 weeks.

To evaluate if increased supervision and support of South African Government health workers' home visits improves maternal and child outcomes: study protocol for a randomized control trial.

PubMed

Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Le Roux, Karl; Le Roux, Ingrid M; Christodoulou, Joan; Laurenzi, Christina; Mbewu, Nokwanele; Tomlinson, Mark

2017-08-07

Concurrent epidemics of HIV, depression, alcohol abuse, and partner violence threaten maternal and child health (MCH) in South Africa. Although home visiting has been repeatedly demonstrated efficacious in research evaluations, efficacy disappears when programs are scaled broadly. In this cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT), we examine whether the benefits of ongoing accountability and supervision within an existing government funded and implemented community health workers (CHW) home visiting program ensure the effectiveness of home visiting. In the deeply rural, Eastern Cape of South Africa, CHW will be hired by the government and will be initially trained by the Philani Programme to conduct home visits with all pregnant mothers and their children until the children are 2 years old. Eight clinics will be randomized to receive either (1) the Accountable Care Condition in which additional monitoring and accountability systems that Philani routinely uses are implemented (4 clinics, 16 CHW, 450 households); or (2) a Standard Care Condition of initial Philani training, but with supervision and monitoring being delivered by local government structures and systems (4 clinics, 21 CHW, 450 households). In the Accountable Care Condition areas, the CHW's mobile phone reports, which are time-location stamped, will be monitored and data-informed supervision will be provided, as well as monitoring growth, medical adherence, mental health, and alcohol use outcomes. Interviewers will independently assess outcomes at pregnancy at 3, 6, 15, and 24 months post-birth. The primary outcome will be a composite score of documenting maternal HIV/TB testing, linkage to care, treatment adherence and retention, as well as child physical growth, cognitive functioning, and child behavior and developmental milestones. The proposed cluster RCT will evaluate whether routinely implementing supervision and accountability procedures and monitoring CHWs' over time will improve MCH outcomes over the first 2 years of life. ClinicalTrials.gov registration #NCT02957799 , registered on October 26, 2016.

Expanding stroke telerehabilitation services to rural veterans: a qualitative study on patient experiences using the robotic stroke therapy delivery and monitoring system program.

PubMed

Cherry, Colleen O'Brien; Chumbler, Neale R; Richards, Kimberly; Huff, Amber; Wu, David; Tilghman, Laura M; Butler, Andrew

2017-01-01

The present study reports on a robotic stroke therapy delivery and monitoring system intervention. The aims of this pilot implementation project were to determine participants' general impressions about the benefits and barriers of using robotic therapy devices for in-home rehabilitation. We used a qualitative study design employing ethnographic-based anthropological methods including direct observation of the in-home environment and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 users of the hand or foot robotic devices. Thematic analysis was conducted using an inductive approach. Participants reported positive experiences with the robotic stroke therapy delivery and monitoring system. Benefits included convenience, self-reported increased mobility, improved mood and an outlet for physical and mental tension and anxiety. Barriers to use were few and included difficulties with placing the device on the body, bulkiness of the monitor and modem connection problems. Telerehabilitation robotic devices can be used as a tool to extend effective, evidence-based and specialized rehabilitation services for upper and lower limb rehabilitation to rural Veterans with poor access to care. Implications for Rehabilitation Participants whose formal therapy services had ended either because they had exhausted their benefits or because traveling to outpatient therapy was too cumbersome due to distance were able to perform therapeutic activities in the home daily (or at least multiple times per week). Participants who were still receiving formal therapy services either in-home or in the clinic were able to perform therapeutic activities in the home on the days they were not attending/receiving formal therapy. Based on the feedback from these veterans and their caregivers, the manufacturing company is working on modifying the devices to be less cumbersome and more user-friendly (lighter-weight, more mobile, changing software, etc.), as well as more adaptable to participants' homes. Removing these specific barriers will potentially allow participants to utilize the device more easily and more frequently. Since participants expressed that they wished they could have the device in their homes longer than the 3-month usage period required for this pilot project, the project team is working on a proposal to extend this project to a wider area and the new paradigm would extend the usage period until the patient reaches a plateau in progress or no longer wants to use the device.

Berkeley Lab Answers Your Home Energy Efficiency Questions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walker, Iain

2013-02-14

In this follow-up "Ask Berkeley Lab" video, energy efficiency expert Iain Walker answers some of your questions about home energy efficiency. How do you monitor which appliances use the most energy? Should you replace your old windows? Are photovoltaic systems worth the cost? What to do about a leaky house? And what's the single biggest energy user in your home? Watch the video to get the answers to these and more questions.

Berkeley Lab Answers Your Home Energy Efficiency Questions

ScienceCinema

Walker, Iain

2018-01-16

In this follow-up "Ask Berkeley Lab" video, energy efficiency expert Iain Walker answers some of your questions about home energy efficiency. How do you monitor which appliances use the most energy? Should you replace your old windows? Are photovoltaic systems worth the cost? What to do about a leaky house? And what's the single biggest energy user in your home? Watch the video to get the answers to these and more questions.

Performance and Costs of Ductless Heat Pumps in Marine-Climate High-Performance Homes -- Habitat for Humanity The Woods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Michael Lubliner; Howard, Luke; Hales, David

2016-02-23

This final Building America Partnership report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013 and October 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing.

HomeADL for adaptive ADL monitoring within smart homes.

PubMed

Hong, Xin; Nugent, Chris D; Finlay, Dewar D; Mulvenna, Maurice

2008-01-01

In this paper we present homeADL: a representation standard for an inference hierarchy of activities of daily living which may be monitored in a sensor equipped smart home. The approach allows a free exchange of ADL monitoring structures between different communities who share the same concern of providing high quality healthcare to the elderly. Its ability of matching different ADL protocols enables a mapping between an ADL protocol to a suitable smart home which makes an effective management of smart homes within a community hence, not only being able to satisfy an individual's healthcare requirements but also efficiently using monitoring resources at hand.

Expert panel consensus recommendations for home blood pressure monitoring in Asia: the Hope Asia Network.

PubMed

Park, Sungha; Buranakitjaroen, Peera; Chen, Chen-Huan; Chia, Yook-Chin; Divinagracia, Romeo; Hoshide, Satoshi; Shin, Jinho; Siddique, Saulat; Sison, Jorge; Soenarta, Arieska Ann; Sogunuru, Guru Prasad; Tay, Jam Chin; Turana, Yuda; Wang, Ji-Guang; Zhang, Yuqing; Kario, Kazuomi

2018-04-01

Hypertension is the leading cause of mortality throughout Asia. Home blood pressure monitoring has the potential to improve hypertension control and is a useful adjunct to conventional office blood pressure measurements due to its diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value in predicting cardiovascular outcomes. At present, there are no region-specific guidelines addressing the use of home blood pressure monitoring in Asia. Therefore, an expert panel was convened to address the use of home blood pressure monitoring and develop key recommendations to help guide clinical practice throughout the Asia region. The resulting recommendations support the use of home blood pressure monitoring with a validated device as an accurate adjunct for diagnosing hypertension and predicting cardiovascular outcome. Diagnosis and treatment of hypertension should still be guided by conventional office/clinic blood pressure measurements. The expert panel encourages the incorporation of home blood pressure monitoring into local clinical guidelines and offers practical recommendations to ensure continuity of care where a validated home blood pressure device is not available.

An integrated biomedical telemetry system for sleep monitoring employing a portable body area network of sensors (SENSATION).

PubMed

Astaras, Alexander; Arvanitidou, Marina; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Kilintzis, Vassilis; Koutkias, Vassilis; Sanchez, Eduardo Monton; Stalidis, George; Triantafyllidis, Andreas; Maglaveras, Nicos

2008-01-01

A flexible, scaleable and cost-effective medical telemetry system is described for monitoring sleep-related disorders in the home environment. The system was designed and built for real-time data acquisition and processing, allowing for additional use in intensive care unit scenarios where rapid medical response is required in case of emergency. It comprises a wearable body area network of Zigbee-compatible wireless sensors worn by the subject, a central database repository residing in the medical centre and thin client workstations located at the subject's home and in the clinician's office. The system supports heterogeneous setup configurations, involving a variety of data acquisition sensors to suit several medical applications. All telemetry data is securely transferred and stored in the central database under the clinicians' ownership and control.

Easily installable behavioral monitoring system with electric field sensor.

PubMed

Tsukamoto, Sosuke; Machida, Yuichiro; Kameda, Noriyuki; Hoshino, Hiroshi; Tamura, Toshiyo

2007-01-01

This paper describes a wireless behavioral monitoring system equipped with an electric field sensor. The sensor unit was designed to obtain information regarding the usage of home electric appliances such as the television, microwave oven, coffee maker, etc. by measuring the electric field surrounding them. It is assumed that these usage statistics could provide information regarding the indoor behavior of a subject. Since the sensor can be used by simply attaching it to an appliance and does not require any wiring for its installation, this system can be temporarily installed in any ordinary house. A simple interface for selecting the threshold value of appliances' power on/off states was introduced. The experimental results reveal that the proposed system can be installed by individuals in their residences in a short time and the usage statistics of home appliances can be gathered.

[Telemetry in the clinical setting].

PubMed

Hilbel, Thomas; Helms, Thomas M; Mikus, Gerd; Katus, Hugo A; Zugck, Christian

2008-09-01

Telemetric cardiac monitoring was invented in 1949 by Norman J Holter. Its clinical use started in the early 1960s. In the hospital, biotelemetry allows early mobilization of patients with cardiovascular risk and addresses the need for arrhythmia or oxygen saturation monitoring. Nowadays telemetry either uses vendor-specific UHF band broadcasting or the digital ISM band (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical Band) standardized Wi-Fi network technology. Modern telemetry radio transmitters can measure and send multiple physiological parameters like multi-channel ECG, NIPB and oxygen saturation. The continuous measurement of oxygen saturation is mandatory for the remote monitoring of patients with cardiac pacemakers. Real 12-lead ECG systems with diagnostic quality are an advantage for monitoring patients with chest pain syndromes or in drug testing wards. Modern systems are light-weight and deliver a maximum of carrying comfort due to optimized cable design. Important for the system selection is a sophisticated detection algorithm with a maximum reduction of artifacts. Home-monitoring of implantable cardiac devices with telemetric functionalities are becoming popular because it allows remote diagnosis of proper device functionality and also optimization of the device settings. Continuous real-time monitoring at home for patients with chronic disease may be possible in the future using Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (DVB-T) technology in Europe, but is currently not yet available.

Where should Momma go? Current nursing home performance measurement strategies and a less ambitious approach.

PubMed

Phillips, Charles D; Hawes, Catherine; Lieberman, Trudy; Koren, Mary Jane

2007-06-25

Nursing home performance measurement systems are practically ubiquitous. The vast majority of these systems aspire to rank order all nursing homes based on quantitative measures of quality. However, the ability of such systems to identify homes differing in quality is hampered by the multidimensional nature of nursing homes and their residents. As a result, the authors doubt the ability of many nursing home performance systems to truly help consumers differentiate among homes providing different levels of quality. We also argue that, for consumers, performance measurement models are better at identifying problem facilities than potentially good homes. In response to these concerns we present a proposal for a less ambitious approach to nursing home performance measurement than previously used. We believe consumers can make better informed choice using a simpler system designed to pinpoint poor-quality nursing homes, rather than one designed to rank hundreds of facilities based on differences in quality-of-care indicators that are of questionable importance. The suggested performance model is based on five principles used in the development of the Consumers Union 2006 Nursing Home Quality Monitor. We can best serve policy-makers and consumers by eschewing nursing home reporting systems that present information about all the facilities in a city, a state, or the nation on a website or in a report. We argue for greater modesty in our efforts and a focus on identifying only the potentially poorest or best homes. In the end, however, it is important to remember that information from any performance measurement website or report is no substitute for multiple visits to a home at different times of the day to personally assess quality.

Misclassification of OSA severity with automated scoring of home sleep recordings.

PubMed

Aurora, R Nisha; Swartz, Rachel; Punjabi, Naresh M

2015-03-01

The advent of home sleep testing has allowed for the development of an ambulatory care model for OSA that most health-care providers can easily deploy. Although automated algorithms that accompany home sleep monitors can identify and classify disordered breathing events, it is unclear whether manual scoring followed by expert review of home sleep recordings is of any value. Thus, this study examined the agreement between automated and manual scoring of home sleep recordings. Two type 3 monitors (ApneaLink Plus [ResMed] and Embletta [Embla Systems]) were examined in distinct study samples. Data from manual and automated scoring were available for 200 subjects. Two thresholds for oxygen desaturation (≥ 3% and ≥ 4%) were used to define disordered breathing events. Agreement between manual and automated scoring was examined using Pearson correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman analyses. Automated scoring consistently underscored disordered breathing events compared with manual scoring for both sleep monitors irrespective of whether a ≥ 3% or ≥ 4% oxygen desaturation threshold was used to define the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). For the ApneaLink Plus monitor, Bland-Altman analyses revealed an average AHI difference between manual and automated scoring of 6.1 (95% CI, 4.9-7.3) and 4.6 (95% CI, 3.5-5.6) events/h for the ≥ 3% and ≥ 4% oxygen desaturation thresholds, respectively. Similarly for the Embletta monitor, the average difference between manual and automated scoring was 5.3 (95% CI, 3.2-7.3) and 8.4 (95% CI, 7.2-9.6) events/h, respectively. Although agreement between automated and manual scoring of home sleep recordings varies based on the device used, modest agreement was observed between the two approaches. However, manual review of home sleep test recordings can decrease the misclassification of OSA severity, particularly for those with mild disease. ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01503164; www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Misclassification of OSA Severity With Automated Scoring of Home Sleep Recordings

PubMed Central

Aurora, R. Nisha; Swartz, Rachel

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: The advent of home sleep testing has allowed for the development of an ambulatory care model for OSA that most health-care providers can easily deploy. Although automated algorithms that accompany home sleep monitors can identify and classify disordered breathing events, it is unclear whether manual scoring followed by expert review of home sleep recordings is of any value. Thus, this study examined the agreement between automated and manual scoring of home sleep recordings. METHODS: Two type 3 monitors (ApneaLink Plus [ResMed] and Embletta [Embla Systems]) were examined in distinct study samples. Data from manual and automated scoring were available for 200 subjects. Two thresholds for oxygen desaturation (≥ 3% and ≥ 4%) were used to define disordered breathing events. Agreement between manual and automated scoring was examined using Pearson correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman analyses. RESULTS: Automated scoring consistently underscored disordered breathing events compared with manual scoring for both sleep monitors irrespective of whether a ≥ 3% or ≥ 4% oxygen desaturation threshold was used to define the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). For the ApneaLink Plus monitor, Bland-Altman analyses revealed an average AHI difference between manual and automated scoring of 6.1 (95% CI, 4.9-7.3) and 4.6 (95% CI, 3.5-5.6) events/h for the ≥ 3% and ≥ 4% oxygen desaturation thresholds, respectively. Similarly for the Embletta monitor, the average difference between manual and automated scoring was 5.3 (95% CI, 3.2-7.3) and 8.4 (95% CI, 7.2-9.6) events/h, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although agreement between automated and manual scoring of home sleep recordings varies based on the device used, modest agreement was observed between the two approaches. However, manual review of home sleep test recordings can decrease the misclassification of OSA severity, particularly for those with mild disease. TRIAL REGISTRY: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01503164; www.clinicaltrials.gov PMID:25411804

Video Monitoring and Analysis System for Vivarium Cage Racks | NCI Technology Transfer Center | TTC

Cancer.gov

This invention pertains to a system for continuous observation of rodents in home-cage environments with the specific aim to facilitate the quantification of activity levels and behavioral patterns for mice housed in a commercial ventilated cage rack.  The National Cancer Institute’s Radiation Biology Branch seeks partners interested in collaborative research to co-develop a video monitoring system for laboratory animals.

E-healthcare at an experimental welfare techno house in Japan.

PubMed

Tamura, Toshiyo; Kawarada, Atsushi; Nambu, Masayuki; Tsukada, Akira; Sasaki, Kazuo; Yamakoshi, Ken-Ichi

2007-01-01

An automated monitoring system for home health care has been designed for an experimental house in Japan called the Welfare Techno House (WTH). Automated electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements can be taken while in bed, in the bathtub, and on the toilet, without the subject's awareness, and without using body surface electrodes. In order to evaluate this automated health monitoring system, overnight measurements were performed to monitor health status during the daily lives of both young and elderly subjects.

Promoting smoke-free homes: a novel behavioral intervention using real-time audio-visual feedback on airborne particle levels.

PubMed

Klepeis, Neil E; Hughes, Suzanne C; Edwards, Rufus D; Allen, Tracy; Johnson, Michael; Chowdhury, Zohir; Smith, Kirk R; Boman-Davis, Marie; Bellettiere, John; Hovell, Melbourne F

2013-01-01

Interventions are needed to protect the health of children who live with smokers. We pilot-tested a real-time intervention for promoting behavior change in homes that reduces second hand tobacco smoke (SHS) levels. The intervention uses a monitor and feedback system to provide immediate auditory and visual signals triggered at defined thresholds of fine particle concentration. Dynamic graphs of real-time particle levels are also shown on a computer screen. We experimentally evaluated the system, field-tested it in homes with smokers, and conducted focus groups to obtain general opinions. Laboratory tests of the monitor demonstrated SHS sensitivity, stability, precision equivalent to at least 1 µg/m(3), and low noise. A linear relationship (R(2) = 0.98) was observed between the monitor and average SHS mass concentrations up to 150 µg/m(3). Focus groups and interviews with intervention participants showed in-home use to be acceptable and feasible. The intervention was evaluated in 3 homes with combined baseline and intervention periods lasting 9 to 15 full days. Two families modified their behavior by opening windows or doors, smoking outdoors, or smoking less. We observed evidence of lower SHS levels in these homes. The remaining household voiced reluctance to changing their smoking activity and did not exhibit lower SHS levels in main smoking areas or clear behavior change; however, family members expressed receptivity to smoking outdoors. This study established the feasibility of the real-time intervention, laying the groundwork for controlled trials with larger sample sizes. Visual and auditory cues may prompt family members to take immediate action to reduce SHS levels. Dynamic graphs of SHS levels may help families make decisions about specific mitigation approaches.

Promoting Smoke-Free Homes: A Novel Behavioral Intervention Using Real-Time Audio-Visual Feedback on Airborne Particle Levels

PubMed Central

Klepeis, Neil E.; Hughes, Suzanne C.; Edwards, Rufus D.; Allen, Tracy; Johnson, Michael; Chowdhury, Zohir; Smith, Kirk R.; Boman-Davis, Marie; Bellettiere, John; Hovell, Melbourne F.

2013-01-01

Interventions are needed to protect the health of children who live with smokers. We pilot-tested a real-time intervention for promoting behavior change in homes that reduces second hand tobacco smoke (SHS) levels. The intervention uses a monitor and feedback system to provide immediate auditory and visual signals triggered at defined thresholds of fine particle concentration. Dynamic graphs of real-time particle levels are also shown on a computer screen. We experimentally evaluated the system, field-tested it in homes with smokers, and conducted focus groups to obtain general opinions. Laboratory tests of the monitor demonstrated SHS sensitivity, stability, precision equivalent to at least 1 µg/m3, and low noise. A linear relationship (R2 = 0.98) was observed between the monitor and average SHS mass concentrations up to 150 µg/m3. Focus groups and interviews with intervention participants showed in-home use to be acceptable and feasible. The intervention was evaluated in 3 homes with combined baseline and intervention periods lasting 9 to 15 full days. Two families modified their behavior by opening windows or doors, smoking outdoors, or smoking less. We observed evidence of lower SHS levels in these homes. The remaining household voiced reluctance to changing their smoking activity and did not exhibit lower SHS levels in main smoking areas or clear behavior change; however, family members expressed receptivity to smoking outdoors. This study established the feasibility of the real-time intervention, laying the groundwork for controlled trials with larger sample sizes. Visual and auditory cues may prompt family members to take immediate action to reduce SHS levels. Dynamic graphs of SHS levels may help families make decisions about specific mitigation approaches. PMID:24009742

Current status of home blood pressure monitoring in Asia: Statement from the HOPE Asia Network.

PubMed

Chia, Yook-Chin; Buranakitjaroen, Peera; Chen, Chen-Huan; Divinagracia, Romeo; Hoshide, Satoshi; Park, Sungha; Shin, Jinho; Siddique, Saulat; Sison, Jorge; Soenarta, Arieska Ann; Sogunuru, Guru Prasad; Tay, Jam Chin; Turana, Yuda; Wang, Ji-Guang; Wong, Lawrence; Zhang, Yuqing; Kario, Kazuomi

2017-11-01

Hypertension represents a major burden in Asia, with a high prevalence rate but poor level of awareness and control reported in many countries in the region. Home blood pressure monitoring has been validated as an accurate and reliable measure of blood pressure that can help guide hypertension treatment as well as identify masked and white-coat hypertension. Despite its benefits, there has been limited research into home blood pressure monitoring in Asia. The authors reviewed the current evidence on home blood pressure monitoring in Asia, including but not limited to published literature, data presented at congresses, and national hypertension management guidelines to determine the current utilization of home blood pressure monitoring in clinical practice in the region. Public policies to enable greater access to home blood pressure monitoring and its use in clinical care would add considerably to improving hypertension outcomes in Asia. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Learning energy literacy concepts from energy-efficient homes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paige, Frederick Eugene

The purpose of this study is to understand ways that occupants' and visitors' interaction with energy efficient home design affects Energy Literacy. Using a case study approach including interviews, surveys, and observations, I examined the potential for affordable energy efficient homes in the Greenville South Carolina area to "teach" concepts from an Energy Literacy framework developed by dozens of educational partners and federal agencies that comprise the U.S. Global Change Research Program Partners. I paid particular attention to concepts from the framework that are transferable to energy decisions beyond a home's walls. My research reveals ways that interaction with high efficiency homes can effect understanding of the following Energy Literacy concepts: human use of energy is subject to limits and constraints, conservation is one way to manage energy resources, electricity is generated in multiple ways, social and technological innovations effect the amount of energy used by society, and energy use can be calculated and monitored. Examples from my case studies show how the at-home examples can make lessons on energy more personally relevant, easy to understand, and applicable. Specifically, I found that: • Home occupants learn the limits of energy in relation to the concrete and constricting costs associated with their consumption. • Heating and cooling techniques showcase the limits and constraints on different sources of energy. • Relatable systems make it easier to understand energy's limits and constraints. • Indistinct and distant power utilities allow consumers to overlook the root of electricity sources. • Visible examples of electricity generation systems make it clear that electricity is generated in multiple ways. • Small and interactive may mean inefficient electricity generation, but efficient energy education. • Perceptions of expense and complexity create a disconnect between residential energy consumers and renewable electricity generation. • Utility bill limits and constraints exemplify the ability to conserve energy resources. • Replicable examples teach lessons on conservation. • Via an understanding of the water-energy nexus, water conservation lessons transfer to energy saving lessons. • Passive design exemplifies how a shift in thinking can conserve energy resources through informed efficient decision-making. • Societal shifts in energy consumption are evident at home. • Efficient homes provide applicable examples of social and technological innovations. • The home is the environment in which memorable lessons on energy are passed through cultures. • Home energy consumption comparisons are a popular and effective social innovation, but people have mixed emotions about their usefulness. • A utility bill communicates that utility companies are monitoring energy use to calculate cost. • Interactivity enhances feedback from energy monitors. • Calculating and monitoring energy use is perceived as a complex mathematical process. • Energy consumption feedback at the appliance level is desired to inform decisions. • There is a separation between personal energy monitoring and public monitoring. Implications of this research are that an energy literate society will have the knowledge that is a prerequisite for the motivation to address energy and climate issues. Educators, policy makers, engineers, and designers all play a role in creating a built environment that encourages energy saving behavior.

Using information technology to improve the management of chronic disease.

PubMed

Celler, Branko G; Lovell, Nigel H; Basilakis, Jim

2003-09-01

Information and communications technology (ICT) is increasingly being used in management of chronic illness to facilitate shared services (virtual health networks and electronic health records), knowledge management (care rules and protocols, scheduling, information directories), as well as consumer-based health education and evidence-based clinical protocols. Common applications of ICT include home monitoring of vital signs for patients with chronic disease, as well as replacing home visits by nurses in person with telemedicine videophone consultations. A patient-managed Home Telecare System with integrated clinical signs monitoring, automated scheduling and medication reminders, as well as access to health education and daily logs, is presented as an example of ICT use for chronic disease self-management. A clinical case study demonstrates how early identification of adverse trends in clinical signs recorded in the home can either avoid hospital readmission or reduce the length of hospital stay.

A learning-based agent for home neurorehabilitation.

PubMed

Lydakis, Andreas; Meng, Yuanliang; Munroe, Christopher; Wu, Yi-Ning; Begum, Momotaz

2017-07-01

This paper presents the iterative development of an artificially intelligent system to promote home-based neurorehabilitation. Although proper, structured practice of rehabilitation exercises at home is the key to successful recovery of motor functions, there is no home-program out there which can monitor a patient's exercise-related activities and provide corrective feedback in real time. To this end, we designed a Learning from Demonstration (LfD) based home-rehabilitation framework that combines advanced robot learning algorithms with commercially available wearable technologies. The proposed system uses exercise-related motion information and electromyography signals (EMG) of a patient to train a Markov Decision Process (MDP). The trained MDP model can enable an agent to serve as a coach for a patient. On a system level, this is the first initiative, to the best of our knowledge, to employ LfD in an health-care application to enable lay users to program an intelligent system. From a rehabilitation research perspective, this is a completely novel initiative to employ machine learning to provide interactive corrective feedback to a patient in home settings.

A review of wearable sensors and systems with application in rehabilitation

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

The aim of this review paper is to summarize recent developments in the field of wearable sensors and systems that are relevant to the field of rehabilitation. The growing body of work focused on the application of wearable technology to monitor older adults and subjects with chronic conditions in the home and community settings justifies the emphasis of this review paper on summarizing clinical applications of wearable technology currently undergoing assessment rather than describing the development of new wearable sensors and systems. A short description of key enabling technologies (i.e. sensor technology, communication technology, and data analysis techniques) that have allowed researchers to implement wearable systems is followed by a detailed description of major areas of application of wearable technology. Applications described in this review paper include those that focus on health and wellness, safety, home rehabilitation, assessment of treatment efficacy, and early detection of disorders. The integration of wearable and ambient sensors is discussed in the context of achieving home monitoring of older adults and subjects with chronic conditions. Future work required to advance the field toward clinical deployment of wearable sensors and systems is discussed. PMID:22520559

Testing the usability of two automated home-based patient-management systems.

PubMed

Farzanfar, Ramesh; Finkelstein, Joseph; Friedman, Robert H

2004-04-01

To explore to what extent observation and semistructured in-depth interviews provide effective tools for usability testing of two automated home-based systems aimed at monitoring patients' health status at home and improving self-care. Telephone-Linked Care for Diet Adherence in Dyslipidemia (TLC-DietAid) used computer telephony to interact with users and Home Asthma Telemonitoring System (HAT System) used a combination of Personal Digital Assistant (palmtops) and the Internet for similar purposes. Both systems were evaluated in two separate pilot studies. Our pilot studies uncovered "medium-specific" and "content-specific" issues that addressed either the process of the interaction or its content. The results demonstrated that patient-users tended to evaluate each system on the basis of how it fit into everyday life and corresponded to personal preferences. The methodology also allowed the system designers to understand users' concerns and the context of adoption in order to introduce necessary changes to the design to address such concerns.

Unobtrusive Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults Through Home Monitoring*

PubMed Central

Akl, Ahmad; Snoek, Jasper; Mihailidis, Alex

2016-01-01

The early detection of dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease can in some cases reverse, stop or slow cognitive decline and in general greatly reduce the burden of care. This is of increasing significance as demographic studies are warning of an aging population in North America and worldwide. Various smart homes and systems have been developed to detect cognitive decline through continuous monitoring of high risk individuals. However, the majority of these smart homes and systems use a number of predefined heuristics to detect changes in cognition, which has been demonstrated to focus on the idiosyncratic nuances of the individual subjects and thus does not generalize. In this paper, we address this problem by building generalized linear models of home activity of subjects monitored using unobtrusive sensing technologies. We use inhomogenous Poisson processes to model the presence of subjects within different rooms throughout the day. We employ an information theoretic approach to compare the activity distributions learned, and we observe significant statistical differences between the cognitively intact and impaired subjects. Using a simple thresholding approach, we were able to detect mild cognitive impairment in older adults with an average area under the ROC curve of 0.716 and an average area under the precision-recall curve of 0.706 using distributions estimated over time windows of 12 weeks. PMID:26841424

Unobtrusive Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults Through Home Monitoring.

PubMed

Akl, Ahmad; Snoek, Jasper; Mihailidis, Alex

2017-03-01

The early detection of dementias such as Alzheimer's disease can in some cases reverse, stop, or slow cognitive decline and in general greatly reduce the burden of care. This is of increasing significance as demographic studies are warning of an aging population in North America and worldwide. Various smart homes and systems have been developed to detect cognitive decline through continuous monitoring of high risk individuals. However, the majority of these smart homes and systems use a number of predefined heuristics to detect changes in cognition, which has been demonstrated to focus on the idiosyncratic nuances of the individual subjects, and thus, does not generalize. In this paper, we address this problem by building generalized linear models of home activity of older adults monitored using unobtrusive sensing technologies. We use inhomogenous Poisson processes to model the presence of the recruited older adults within different rooms throughout the day. We employ an information theoretic approach to compare the generalized linear models learned, and we observe significant statistical differences between the cognitively intact and impaired older adults. Using a simple thresholding approach, we were able to detect mild cognitive impairment in older adults with an average area under the ROC curve of 0.716 and an average area under the precision-recall curve of 0.706 using activity models estimated over a time window of 12 weeks.

Integration of multisensor hybrid reasoners to support personal autonomy in the smart home.

PubMed

Valero, Miguel Ángel; Bravo, José; Chamizo, Juan Manuel García; López-de-Ipiña, Diego

2014-09-17

The deployment of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) paradigm requires designing and integrating user-centered smart environments to assist people in their daily life activities. This research paper details an integration and validation of multiple heterogeneous sensors with hybrid reasoners that support decision making in order to monitor personal and environmental data at a smart home in a private way. The results innovate on knowledge-based platforms, distributed sensors, connected objects, accessibility and authentication methods to promote independent living for elderly people. TALISMAN+, the AmI framework deployed, integrates four subsystems in the smart home: (i) a mobile biomedical telemonitoring platform to provide elderly patients with continuous disease management; (ii) an integration middleware that allows context capture from heterogeneous sensors to program environment's reaction; (iii) a vision system for intelligent monitoring of daily activities in the home; and (iv) an ontologies-based integrated reasoning platform to trigger local actions and manage private information in the smart home. The framework was integrated in two real running environments, the UPM Accessible Digital Home and MetalTIC house, and successfully validated by five experts in home care, elderly people and personal autonomy.

Integration of Multisensor Hybrid Reasoners to Support Personal Autonomy in the Smart Home

PubMed Central

Valero, Miguel Ángel; Bravo, José; Chamizo, Juan Manuel García; López-de-Ipiña, Diego

2014-01-01

The deployment of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) paradigm requires designing and integrating user-centered smart environments to assist people in their daily life activities. This research paper details an integration and validation of multiple heterogeneous sensors with hybrid reasoners that support decision making in order to monitor personal and environmental data at a smart home in a private way. The results innovate on knowledge-based platforms, distributed sensors, connected objects, accessibility and authentication methods to promote independent living for elderly people. TALISMAN+, the AmI framework deployed, integrates four subsystems in the smart home: (i) a mobile biomedical telemonitoring platform to provide elderly patients with continuous disease management; (ii) an integration middleware that allows context capture from heterogeneous sensors to program environment's reaction; (iii) a vision system for intelligent monitoring of daily activities in the home; and (iv) an ontologies-based integrated reasoning platform to trigger local actions and manage private information in the smart home. The framework was integrated in two real running environments, the UPM Accessible Digital Home and MetalTIC house, and successfully validated by five experts in home care, elderly people and personal autonomy. PMID:25232910

An intelligent knowledge-based and customizable home care system framework with ubiquitous patient monitoring and alerting techniques.

PubMed

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Yu, Chao-Wei; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study develops and integrates an efficient knowledge-based system and a component-based framework to design an intelligent and flexible home health care system. The proposed knowledge-based system integrates an efficient rule-based reasoning model and flexible knowledge rules for determining efficiently and rapidly the necessary physiological and medication treatment procedures based on software modules, video camera sensors, communication devices, and physiological sensor information. This knowledge-based system offers high flexibility for improving and extending the system further to meet the monitoring demands of new patient and caregiver health care by updating the knowledge rules in the inference mechanism. All of the proposed functional components in this study are reusable, configurable, and extensible for system developers. Based on the experimental results, the proposed intelligent homecare system demonstrates that it can accomplish the extensible, customizable, and configurable demands of the ubiquitous healthcare systems to meet the different demands of patients and caregivers under various rehabilitation and nursing conditions.

An Intelligent Knowledge-Based and Customizable Home Care System Framework with Ubiquitous Patient Monitoring and Alerting Techniques

PubMed Central

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Yu, Chao-Wei; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study develops and integrates an efficient knowledge-based system and a component-based framework to design an intelligent and flexible home health care system. The proposed knowledge-based system integrates an efficient rule-based reasoning model and flexible knowledge rules for determining efficiently and rapidly the necessary physiological and medication treatment procedures based on software modules, video camera sensors, communication devices, and physiological sensor information. This knowledge-based system offers high flexibility for improving and extending the system further to meet the monitoring demands of new patient and caregiver health care by updating the knowledge rules in the inference mechanism. All of the proposed functional components in this study are reusable, configurable, and extensible for system developers. Based on the experimental results, the proposed intelligent homecare system demonstrates that it can accomplish the extensible, customizable, and configurable demands of the ubiquitous healthcare systems to meet the different demands of patients and caregivers under various rehabilitation and nursing conditions. PMID:23112650

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butler, T.; Curtis, O.; Stephenson, R.

As part of the NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Southface partnered with TaC Studios, an Atlanta-based architecture firm specializing in residential and light commercial design, on the construction of a new test home in Atlanta, GA in the mixed humid climate. This home serves as a residence and home office for the firm's owners, as well as a demonstration of their design approach topotential and current clients. Southface believes the home demonstrates current best practices for the mixed-humid climate, including a building envelope featuring advanced air sealing details and low density spray foam insulation, glazing that exceeds ENERGY STAR requirements,more » and a high performance heating and cooling system. Construction quality and execution was a high priority for TaCStudios and was ensured by a third party review process. Post-construction testing showed that the project met stated goals for envelope performance, an air infiltration rate of 2.15 ACH50. The homeowners wished to further validate whole house energy savings through the project's involvement with Building America and this long-term monitoring effort. As a Building America test home, this homewas evaluated to detail whole house energy use, end use loads, and the efficiency and operation of the ground source heat pump and associated systems. Given that the home includes many non-typical end use loads including a home office, pool, landscape water feature, and other luxury features not accounted for in Building America modeling tools, these end uses were separately monitored todetermine their impact on overall energy consumption.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This report, Evaluation of the Performance of Houses with and without Supplemental Dehumidification in a Hot-Humid Climate, describes a research study that that was conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Team. BSC seeks to research and report on the field monitoring of the performance of in-situ supplemental dehumidification systems in low energy, high performance, homes in a Hot-Humid climate. The purpose of this research project was to observe and compare the humidity control performance of new, single family, low energy, and high performance, homes. Specifically, the study sought to compare the interior conditions and mechanical systemsmore » operation between two distinct groups of houses, homes with a supplemental dehumidifier installed in addition to HVAC system, and homes without any supplemental dehumidification. The subjects of the study were ten single-family new construction homes in New Orleans, LA. Data logging equipment was installed at each home in 2012. Interior conditions and various end-use loads were monitored for one year. In terms of averages, the homes with dehumidifiers are limiting elevated levels of humidity in the living space. However, there was significant variation in humidity control between individual houses. An analysis of the equipment operation did not show a clear correlation between energy use and humidity levels. In general, no single explanatory variable appears to provide a consistent understanding of the humidity control in each house. Indoor humidity is likely due to all of the factors we have examined, and the specifics of how they are used by each occupant.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kerrigan, P.; Norton, P.

This report, Evaluation of the Performance of Houses with and without Supplemental Dehumidification in a Hot-Humid Climate, describes a research study that that was conducted by the Building Science Corporation (BSC) Building America Research Team. BSC seeks to research and report on the field monitoring of the performance of in-situ supplemental dehumidification systems in low energy, high performance, homes in a Hot-Humid climate. The purpose of this research project was to observe and compare the humidity control performance of new, single family, low energy, and high performance, homes. Specifically, the study sought to compare the interior conditions and mechanical systemsmore » operation between two distinct groups of houses, homes with a supplemental dehumidifier installed in addition to HVAC system, and homes without any supplemental dehumidification. The subjects of the study were ten single-family new construction homes in New Orleans, LA.Data logging equipment was installed at each home in 2012. Interior conditions and various end-use loads were monitored for one year. In terms of averages, the homes with dehumidifiers are limiting elevated levels of humidity in the living space. However, there was significant variation in humidity control between individual houses. An analysis of the equipment operation did not show a clear correlation between energy use and humidity levels. In general, no single explanatory variable appears to provide a consistent understanding of the humidity control in each house. Indoor humidity is likely due to all of the factors we have examined, and the specifics of how they are used by each occupant.« less

Diagnostic and therapeutic yield of a patient-controlled portable EEG device with dry electrodes for home-monitoring neurological outpatients-rationale and protocol of the HOMEONE pilot study.

PubMed

Neumann, Thomas; Baum, Anne Katrin; Baum, Ulrike; Deike, Renate; Feistner, Helmut; Hinrichs, Hermann; Stokes, Joseph; Robra, Bernt-Peter

2018-01-01

The HOME ONE study is part of the larger HOME project, which aims to provide evidence of diagnostic and therapeutic yield ("change of management") of a patient-controlled portable EEG device with dry electrodes for the purposes of EEG home-monitoring neurological outpatients. The HOME ONE study is the first step in the process of investigating whether outpatient EEG home-monitoring changes the diagnosis and treatment of patients in comparison to conventional EEG ("change of management"). Both EEG devices (conventional and portable) will be systematically compared via a two-phase intra-individual assessment.In the first phase (pilot study phase), both EEG devices will be used within neurologist practices (all other things being equal). This pilot study (involving 130 patients) will evaluate the technical usability and efficacy of the new portable dry electrode EEG recorder in comparison to conventional EEG devices. Judgements will be based on technical assessments and EEG record examinations of private practitioners and two experienced neurologists (percent of concordant readings and kappa values).The second phase (feasibility study phase) aims to assess patients' acceptability and feasibility of the EEG home-monitoring and will provide insights into the extent diagnostic and therapeutic yields can be expected.For this purpose, a conventional EEG will be recorded in neurologist practices. Thereafter, the practice staff will instruct the patients on how the portable EEG device functions. The patients will subsequently use the devices in their home environment.The evaluation will compare the before and after documented diagnostic findings and the therapeutic consequences of the private practitioners with those of two experienced neurologists. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first study of its kind to examine new approaches to diagnosing unclear consciousness disorders or other disorders of the CNS or the cardiovascular system through the use of a patient-controlled portable EEG device with dry electrodes for the purpose of home-monitoring neurological outpatients. If the two phases of the HOME ONE study provide sufficient evidence of diagnostic and therapeutic yields, this would justify (indication-specific) full-scale randomized controlled trials or observational studies. DRKS DRKS00012685. Registered 9 August 2017, retrospectively registered.

The perceptions of cognitively impaired patients and their caregivers of a home telecare system

PubMed Central

Mehrabian, Shima; Extra, Jocelyne; Wu, Ya-Huei; Pino, Maribel; Traykov, Latchezar; Rigaud, Anne-Sophie

2015-01-01

Assistive and telecare technologies have been developed to support older adults with cognitive impairments, as well as their caregivers, from their homes. The way potential users perceive telecare and smart home systems plays a key role in their acceptance of this new technology. We evaluate the acceptance of home telecare technologies among patients suffering from cognitive impairment and their caregivers. Prototypes of telecare devices were developed to demonstrate their features and capabilities and to train patients, families, and health care professionals in their use. We conducted semistructured interviews to elicit the perceptions of 30 patients with mild cognitive impairment, 32 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and 30 caregivers, regarding the risks and advantages of home telecare and smart houses. Survey results reflected participants’ largely positive reactions to these technologies. Regarding home telecare, the cognitive stimulation program earned the highest proportion of positive responses, followed by the devices’ care of emergencies. The participants generally agreed that home telecare and smart houses could significantly improve their quality of life. However, some technical and ethical concerns, such as the way of provision, installation, and monitoring of the systems, were reported to be in need of addressing before implementation of this system. PMID:25552909

The perceptions of cognitively impaired patients and their caregivers of a home telecare system.

PubMed

Mehrabian, Shima; Extra, Jocelyne; Wu, Ya-Huei; Pino, Maribel; Traykov, Latchezar; Rigaud, Anne-Sophie

2015-01-01

Assistive and telecare technologies have been developed to support older adults with cognitive impairments, as well as their caregivers, from their homes. The way potential users perceive telecare and smart home systems plays a key role in their acceptance of this new technology. We evaluate the acceptance of home telecare technologies among patients suffering from cognitive impairment and their caregivers. Prototypes of telecare devices were developed to demonstrate their features and capabilities and to train patients, families, and health care professionals in their use. We conducted semistructured interviews to elicit the perceptions of 30 patients with mild cognitive impairment, 32 patients with Alzheimer's disease, and 30 caregivers, regarding the risks and advantages of home telecare and smart houses. Survey results reflected participants' largely positive reactions to these technologies. Regarding home telecare, the cognitive stimulation program earned the highest proportion of positive responses, followed by the devices' care of emergencies. The participants generally agreed that home telecare and smart houses could significantly improve their quality of life. However, some technical and ethical concerns, such as the way of provision, installation, and monitoring of the systems, were reported to be in need of addressing before implementation of this system.

HoCaMA: Home Care Hybrid Multiagent Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraile, Juan A.; Bajo, Javier; Abraham, Ajith; Corchado, Juan M.

Home Care is one of the main objectives of Ambient Intelligence. Nowadays, the disabled and elderly population, which represents a significant part of our society, requires novel solutions for providing home care in an effective way. In this chapter, we present HoCaMA, a hybrid multiagent architecture that facilitates remote monitoring and care services for disabled patients at their homes. HoCaMA combines multiagent systems and Web services to facilitate the communication and integration with multiple health care systems. In addition, HoCaMA focuses on the design of reactive agents capable of interacting with different sensors present in the environment, and incorporates a system of alerts through SMS and MMS mobile technologies. Finally, it uses Radio Frequency IDentification and JavaCard technologies to provide advanced location and identification systems, as well as automatic access control facilities. HoCaMA has been implemented in a real environment and the results obtained are presented within this chapter.

Building America Case Study: Ground Source Heat Pump Research, TaC Studios Residence, Atlanta, Georigia (Fact Sheet)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

2014-09-01

As part of the NAHB Research Center Industry Partnership, Southface partnered with TaC Studios, an Atlanta based architecture firm specializing in residential and light commercial design, on the construction of a new test home in Atlanta, GA in the mixed-humid climate. This home serves as a residence and home office for the firm's owners, as well as a demonstration of their design approach to potential and current clients. Southface believes the home demonstrates current best practices for the mixed-humid climate, including a building envelope featuring advanced air sealing details and low density spray foam insulation, glazing that exceeds ENERGY STARmore » requirements, and a high performance heating and cooling system. Construction quality and execution was a high priority for TaC Studios and was ensured by a third party review process. Post construction testing showed that the project met stated goals for envelope performance, an air infiltration rate of 2.15 ACH50. The homeowner's wished to further validate whole house energy savings through the project's involvement with Building America and this long-term monitoring effort. As a Building America test home, this home was evaluated to detail whole house energy use, end use loads, and the efficiency and operation of the ground source heat pump and associated systems. Given that the home includes many non-typical end use loads including a home office, pool, landscape water feature, and other luxury features not accounted for in Building America modeling tools, these end uses were separately monitored to determine their impact on overall energy consumption.« less

Applying State-of-the-Art Technologies to Reduce Escape Times from Fires Using Environmental Sensing, Improved Occupant Egress Guidance, and Multiple Communication Protocols

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-06

that could monitor sensors, evaluate environmental 4 conditions, and control visual and sound devices was conducted. The home automation products used...the prototype system. Use of off-the-shelf home automation products allowed the implementation of an egress control prototype suitable for test and

Climate Prediction Center - NCEP Global Ocean Data Assimilation System:

Science.gov Websites

home page National Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Monthly in NetCDF Other formats Links NOAA Ocean Climate Observation Program (OCO) Climate Test Bed About Prediction (NCEP) are a valuable community asset for monitoring different aspects of ocean climate

Development of building security integration system using sensors, microcontroller and GPS (Global Positioning System) based android smartphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sihombing, P.; Siregar, Y. M.; Tarigan, J. T.; Jaya, I.; Turnip, A.

2018-03-01

Security system is one of the common problems to protect an environment such as personal house or a warehouse. There are numerous methods and technologies that can be used as part of a security system. In this paper, we present a security system that offers a better efficiency. The purpose of this study is to build a system that can monitor home security at any time in particular fire and theft. Through sensors, the system will be able to provide warning information of hazard conditions via LCD monitor, sound, and alarm. This information will be sent automatically to the home owner’s smartphone as well as to the corresponding to the security agency. Thus the prevention of theft and fire hazards can be immediately anticipated by the police and firefighters. The system will also notify the position of the coordinates of the location of the building (the house) by a link to the Google map in order to make it easier to get the location quickly.

A Human-Centered Smart Home System with Wearable-Sensor Behavior Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ji, Jianting; Liu, Ting; Shen, Chao

Smart home has recently attracted much research interest owing to its potential in improving the quality of human life. How to obtain user's demand is the most important and challenging task for appliance optimal scheduling in smart home, since it is highly related to user's unpredictable behavior. In this paper, a human-centered smart home system is proposed to identify user behavior, predict their demand and schedule the household appliances. Firstly, the sensor data from user's wearable devices are monitored to profile user's full-day behavior. Then, the appliance-demand matrix is constructed to predict user's demand on home environment, which is extractedmore » from the history of appliance load data and user behavior. Two simulations are designed to demonstrate user behavior identification, appliance-demand matrix construction and strategy of appliance optimal scheduling generation.« less

Randomized trial of a home monitoring system for early detection of choroidal neovascularization home monitoring of the Eye (HOME) study.

PubMed

Chew, Emily Y; Clemons, Traci E; Bressler, Susan B; Elman, Michael J; Danis, Ronald P; Domalpally, Amitha; Heier, Jeffrey S; Kim, Judy E; Garfinkel, Richard

2014-02-01

To determine whether home monitoring with the ForeseeHome device (Notal Vision Ltd, Tel Aviv, Israel), using macular visual field testing with hyperacuity techniques and telemonitoring, results in earlier detection of age-related macular degeneration-associated choroidal neovascularization (CNV), reflected in better visual acuity, when compared with standard care. The main predictor of treatment outcome from anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents is the visual acuity at the time of CNV treatment. Unmasked, controlled, randomized clinical trial. One thousand nine hundred and seventy participants 53 to 90 years of age at high risk of CNV developing were screened. Of these, 1520 participants with a mean age of 72.5 years were enrolled in the Home Monitoring of the Eye study at 44 Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 clinical centers. In the standard care and device arms arm, investigator-specific instructions were provided for self-monitoring vision at home followed by report of new symptoms to the clinic. In the device arm, the device was provided with recommendations for daily testing. The device monitoring center received test results and reported changes to the clinical centers, which contacted participants for examination. The main outcome measure was the difference in best-corrected visual acuity scores between baseline and detection of CNV. The event was determined by investigators based on clinical examination, color fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography findings. Masked graders at a central reading center evaluated the images using standardized protocols. Seven hundred sixty-three participants were randomized to device monitoring and 757 participants were randomized to standard care and were followed up for a mean of 1.4 years between July 2010 and April 2013. At the prespecified interim analysis, 82 participants progressed to CNV, 51 in the device arm and 31 in the standard care arm. The primary analysis achieved statistical significance, with the participants in the device arm demonstrating a smaller decline in visual acuity with fewer letters lost from baseline to CNV detection (median, -4 letters; interquartile range [IQR], -11.0 to -1.0 letters) compared with standard care (median, -9 letters; IQR, -14.0 to -4.0 letters; P = 0.021), resulting in better visual acuity at CNV detection in the device arm. The Data and Safety Monitoring Committee recommended early study termination for efficacy. Persons at high risk for CNV developing benefit from the home monitoring strategy for earlier detection of CNV development, which increases the likelihood of better visual acuity results after intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Easily Installable Wireless Behavioral Monitoring System with Electric Field Sensor for Ordinary Houses

PubMed Central

Tsukamoto, S; Hoshino, H; Tamura, T

2008-01-01

This paper describes an indoor behavioral monitoring system for improving the quality of life in ordinary houses. It employs a device that uses weak radio waves for transmitting the obtained data and it is designed such that it can be installed by a user without requiring any technical knowledge or extra constructions. This study focuses on determining the usage statistics of home electric appliances by using an electromagnetic field sensor as a detection device. The usage of the home appliances is determined by measuring the electromagnetic field that can be observed in an area near the appliance. It is assumed that these usage statistics could provide information regarding the indoor behavior of a subject. Since the sensor is not direction sensitive and does not require precise positioning and wiring, it can be easily installed in ordinary houses by the end users. For evaluating the practicability of the sensor unit, several simple tests have been performed. The results indicate that the proposed system could be useful for collecting the usage statistics of home appliances. PMID:19415135

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Case-Mix and Quality Demonstration: a descriptive overview.

PubMed

Reilly, Karen E; Mueller, Christine; Zimmerman, David R

2007-01-01

This paper presents the first comprehensive account of a major national demonstration designed to integrate skilled nursing facilities (SNF) prospective case-mix payment and quality of care. It describes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Case-Mix and Quality (NHCMQ) Demonstration-the template for Medicare's SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) implemented July 1998. The NHCMQ Demonstration provided the basis for one of the most significant changes in SNF reimbursement and quality monitoring policies to date. Prospective reimbursement policies created positive incentive for providers to admit Medicare residents under more equitable payment rates. However, controversy regarding unanticipated perverse provider incentives remains. The quality management system designed under the NHCMQDemonstration is currently used in over 17,000 nursing homes. Furthermore, under the NHCMQ Demonstration, one standardized assessment tool-the MDS-was used to assess a resident's clinical condition, to monitor quality, and to calculate provider reimbursement. Experiences from the NHCMQ Demonstration and continued evaluation of the current national PPS, along with state systems, provide a rich information source regarding prospective, case-mix reimbursement, and provider incentives.

1998 Technology Showcase. JOAP International Condition Monitoring Conference.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-04-01

Systems using Automated SEM/ EDX and New Diagnostic Routines 276 N. W Farrant & T. Luckhurst ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS Model-Based Diagnostics of Gas...Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM/ EDX ) micro analysis packages and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) analytical equipment. Therqfore...wear particles separated by ferrogram method. a- I WEAR PARTICLE A SLAS 97 (HOME PAGE) Fig I Home Page NONFE;RROUS MATERIAL A wW~ a48 -1, rV fr , ý b

Passive in-home measurement of stride-to-stride gait variability comparing vision and Kinect sensing.

PubMed

Stone, Erik E; Skubic, Marjorie

2011-01-01

We present an analysis of measuring stride-to-stride gait variability passively, in a home setting using two vision based monitoring techniques: anonymized video data from a system of two web-cameras, and depth imagery from a single Microsoft Kinect. Millions of older adults fall every year. The ability to assess the fall risk of elderly individuals is essential to allowing them to continue living safely in independent settings as they age. Studies have shown that measures of stride-to-stride gait variability are predictive of falls in older adults. For this analysis, a set of participants were asked to perform a number of short walks while being monitored by the two vision based systems, along with a marker based Vicon motion capture system for ground truth. Measures of stride-to-stride gait variability were computed using each of the systems and compared against those obtained from the Vicon.

Feasibility of Measuring Tobacco Smoke Air Pollution in Homes: Report from a Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Rosen, Laura; Zucker, David; Hovell, Melbourne; Brown, Nili; Ram, Amit; Myers, Vicki

2015-01-01

Tobacco smoke air pollution (TSAP) measurement may persuade parents to adopt smoke-free homes and thereby reduce harm to children from tobacco smoke in the home. In a pilot study involving 29 smoking families, a Sidepak was used to continuously monitor home PM2.5 during an 8-h period, Sidepak and/or Dylos monitors provided real-time feedback, and passive nicotine monitors were used to measure home air nicotine for one week. Feedback was provided to participants in the context of motivational interviews. Home PM2.5 levels recorded by continuous monitoring were not well-accepted by participants because of the noise level. Also, graphs from continuous monitoring showed unexplained peaks, often associated with sources unrelated to indoor smoking, such as cooking, construction, or outdoor sources. This hampered delivery of a persuasive message about the relationship between home smoking and TSAP. By contrast, immediate real-time PM2.5 feedback (with Sidepak or Dylos monitor) was feasible and provided unambiguous information; the Dylos had the additional advantages of being more economical and quieter. Air nicotine sampling was complicated by the time-lag for feedback and questions regarding shelf-life. Improvement in the science of TSAP measurement in the home environment is needed to encourage and help maintain smoke-free homes and protect vulnerable children. Recent advances in the use of mobile devices for real-time feedback are promising and warrant further development, as do accurate methods for real-time air nicotine air monitoring. PMID:26633440

Research and Development of Information and Communication Technology-based Home Blood Pressure Monitoring from Morning to Nocturnal Hypertension.

PubMed

Kario, Kazuomi; Tomitani, Naoko; Matsumoto, Yuri; Hamasaki, Haruna; Okawara, Yukie; Kondo, Maiko; Nozue, Ryoko; Yamagata, Hiromi; Okura, Ayako; Hoshide, Satoshi

2016-01-01

Asians have specific characteristics of hypertension (HTN) and its relationship with cardiovascular disease. The morning surge in blood pressure (BP) in Asians is more extended, and the association slope between higher BP and the risk for cardiovascular events is steeper in this population than in whites. Thus, 24-hour BP control including at night and in the morning is especially important for Asian patients with HTN. There are 3 components of "perfect 24-hour BP control": the 24-hour BP level, adequate dipping of nocturnal BP (dipper type), and adequate BP variability such as the morning BP surge. The morning BP-guided approach using home BP monitoring (HBPM) is the first step toward perfect 24-hour BP control. After controlling morning HTN, nocturnal HTN is the second target. We have been developing HBPM that can measure nocturnal BP. First, we developed a semiautomatic HBPM device with the function of automatic fixed-interval BP measurement during sleep. In the J-HOP (Japan Morning Surge Home Blood Pressure) study, the largest nationwide home BP cohort, we successfully measured nocturnal home BP using this device with data memory, 3 times during sleep (2, 3, and 4 am), and found that nocturnal home BP is significantly correlated with organ damage independently of office and morning BP values. The second advance was the development of trigger nocturnal BP (TNP) monitoring with an added trigger function that initiates BP measurements when oxygen desaturation falls below a variable threshold continuously monitored by pulse oximetry. TNP can detect the specific nocturnal BP surges triggered by hypoxic episodes in patients with sleep apnea syndrome. We also added the lowest heart rate-trigger function to TNP to detect the "basal nocturnal BP," which is determined by the circulating volume and structural cardiovascular system without any increase in sympathetic tonus. This double TNP is a novel concept for evaluating the pathogenic pressor mechanism of nocturnal BP. These data are now collected using an information and communication technology (ICT)-based monitoring system. The BP variability includes different time-phase variability from the shortest beat-by-beat, positional, diurnal, day-by-day, visit-to-visit, seasonal, and the longest yearly changes. The synergistic resonance of each type of BP variability would produce great dynamic BP surges, which trigger cardiovascular events. Thus, in the future, the management of HTN based on the simultaneous assessment of the resonance of all of the BP variability phenotypes using a wearable "surge" BP monitoring device with an ICT-based data analysis system will contribute to the ultimate individualized medication for cardiovascular disease. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of home blood pressure monitoring, Web communication, and pharmacist care on hypertension control: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Green, Beverly B; Cook, Andrea J; Ralston, James D; Fishman, Paul A; Catz, Sheryl L; Carlson, James; Carrell, David; Tyll, Lynda; Larson, Eric B; Thompson, Robert S

2008-06-25

Treating hypertension decreases mortality and disability from cardiovascular disease, but most hypertension remains inadequately controlled. To determine if a new model of care that uses patient Web services, home blood pressure (BP) monitoring, and pharmacist-assisted care improves BP control. A 3-group randomized controlled trial, the Electronic Communications and Home Blood Pressure Monitoring study was based on the Chronic Care Model. The trial was conducted at an integrated group practice in Washington state, enrolling 778 participants aged 25 to 75 years with uncontrolled essential hypertension and Internet access. Care was delivered over a secure patient Web site from June 2005 to December 2007. Participants were randomly assigned to usual care, home BP monitoring and secure patient Web site training only, or home BP monitoring and secure patient Web site training plus pharmacist care management delivered through Web communications. Percentage of patients with controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) and changes in systolic and diastolic BP at 12 months. Of 778 patients, 730 (94%) completed the 1-year follow-up visit. Patients assigned to the home BP monitoring and Web training only group had a nonsignificant increase in the percentage of patients with controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) compared with usual care (36% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 30%-42%] vs 31% [95% CI, 25%-37%]; P = .21). Adding Web-based pharmacist care to home BP monitoring and Web training significantly increased the percentage of patients with controlled BP (56%; 95% CI, 49%-62%) compared with usual care (P < .001) and home BP monitoring and Web training only (P < .001). Systolic BP was decreased stepwise from usual care to home BP monitoring and Web training only to home BP monitoring and Web training plus pharmacist care. Diastolic BP was decreased only in the pharmacist care group compared with both the usual care and home BP monitoring and Web training only groups. Compared with usual care, the patients who had baseline systolic BP of 160 mm Hg or higher and received home BP monitoring and Web training plus pharmacist care had a greater net reduction in systolic BP (-13.2 mm Hg [95% CI, -19.2 to -7.1]; P < .001) and diastolic BP (-4.6 mm Hg [95% CI, -8.0 to -1.2]; P < .001), and improved BP control (relative risk, 3.32 [95% CI, 1.86 to 5.94]; P<.001). Pharmacist care management delivered through secure patient Web communications improved BP control in patients with hypertension. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00158639.

Reduced Healthcare Use and Apparent Savings with Passive Home Monitoring Technology: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Finch, Michael; Griffin, Kristen; Pacala, James T

2017-06-01

To conduct a cost analysis of ambient assisted living technology, which is promising for improving the ability of individuals and care providers to monitor daily activities and gain better awareness through proactive management of health and safety. Three-arm cohort study. Homes of enrollees of a state-based healthcare plan for older adults. Enrollees dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid (N = 268). Health and safety passive remote patient monitoring (PRPM) systems were installed in enrollees' homes (the intervention group) with monitoring and proactive intervention of a case manager when deviation from baseline subject behavior was detected. Claims data were collected over 12 months to assess healthcare use and costs in the intervention group and to compare use and costs with those of two control groups: a concurrent group of enrollees who declined the technology and a historical cohort matched on age to the participation group. Although the small sample size precluded cost differences that were statistically significant, the participant group used substantially less custodial care, emergency department (ED) services, inpatient stays, and ED costs than the two control groups. In this pilot study, the PRPM system was associated with apparent healthcare cost savings. Although more cost analyses are warranted, ambient assisted living technologies are a potentially valuable investment for older adult care. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics Society.

Adding navigation, artificial audition and vital sign monitoring capabilities to a telepresence mobile robot for remote home care applications.

PubMed

Laniel, Sebastien; Letourneau, Dominic; Labbe, Mathieu; Grondin, Francois; Polgar, Janice; Michaud, Francois

2017-07-01

A telepresence mobile robot is a remote-controlled, wheeled device with wireless internet connectivity for bidirectional audio, video and data transmission. In health care, a telepresence robot could be used to have a clinician or a caregiver assist seniors in their homes without having to travel to these locations. Many mobile telepresence robotic platforms have recently been introduced on the market, bringing mobility to telecommunication and vital sign monitoring at reasonable costs. What is missing for making them effective remote telepresence systems for home care assistance are capabilities specifically needed to assist the remote operator in controlling the robot and perceiving the environment through the robot's sensors or, in other words, minimizing cognitive load and maximizing situation awareness. This paper describes our approach adding navigation, artificial audition and vital sign monitoring capabilities to a commercially available telepresence mobile robot. This requires the use of a robot control architecture to integrate the autonomous and teleoperation capabilities of the platform.

A Novel and Intelligent Home Monitoring System for Care Support of Elders with Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Lazarou, Ioulietta; Karakostas, Anastasios; Stavropoulos, Thanos G; Tsompanidis, Theodoros; Meditskos, Georgios; Kompatsiaris, Ioannis; Tsolaki, Magda

2016-10-18

Assistive technology, in the form of a smart home environment, is employed to support people with dementia. To propose a system for continuous and objective remote monitoring of problematic daily living activity areas and design personalized interventions based on system feedback and clinical observations for improving cognitive function and health-related quality of life. The assistive technology of the proposed system, including wearable, sleep, object motion, presence, and utility usage sensors, was methodically deployed at four different home installations of people with cognitive impairment. Detection of sleep patterns, physical activity, and activities of daily living, based on the collected sensor data and analytics, was available at all times through comprehensive data visualization solutions. Combined with clinical observation, targeted psychosocial interventions were introduced to enhance the participants' quality of life and improve their cognitive functions and daily functionality. Meanwhile, participants and their caregivers were able to visualize a reduced set of information tailored to their needs. Overall, paired-sample t-test analysis of monitored qualities revealed improvement for all participants in neuropsychological assessment. Moreover, improvement was detected from the beginning to the end of the trial, in physical condition and in the domains of sleep. Detecting abnormalities via the system, for example in sleep quality, such as REM sleep, has proved to be critical to assess current status, drive interventions, and evaluate improvements in a reliable manner. It has been proved that the proposed system is suitable to support clinicians to reliably drive and evaluate clinical interventions toward quality of life improvement of people with cognitive impairment.

Activity Learning as a Foundation for Security Monitoring in Smart Homes.

PubMed

Dahmen, Jessamyn; Thomas, Brian L; Cook, Diane J; Wang, Xiaobo

2017-03-31

Smart environment technology has matured to the point where it is regularly used in everyday homes as well as research labs. With this maturation of the technology, we can consider using smart homes as a practical mechanism for improving home security. In this paper, we introduce an activity-aware approach to security monitoring and threat detection in smart homes. We describe our approach using the CASAS smart home framework and activity learning algorithms. By monitoring for activity-based anomalies we can detect possible threats and take appropriate action. We evaluate our proposed method using data collected in CASAS smart homes and demonstrate the partnership between activity-aware smart homes and biometric devices in the context of the CASAS on-campus smart apartment testbed.

An intelligent health monitoring system using radio-frequency identification technology.

PubMed

Lai, Yeong-Lin; Chen, Chin-Ling; Chang, Ching-Hisang; Hsu, Chih-Yu; Lai, Yeong-Kang; Tseng, Kuo-Kun; Chen, Chih-Cheng; Zheng, Chun-Yi

2015-01-01

Long-term care (LTC) for the elderly has become extremely important in recent years. It is necessary for the different physiological monitoring systems to be integrated on the same interface to help oversee and manage the elderly's needs. This paper presents a novel health monitoring system for LTC services using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. Dual-band RFID protocols were included in the system, in which the high-frequency (HF) band of 13.56 MHz was used to identify individuals and the microwave band of 2.45 GHz was used to monitor physiological information. Distinct physiological data, including oxyhemoglobin saturation by pulse oximetry (SpO2), blood pressure, blood sugar, electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, body temperature, and respiration rate, were monitored by various biosensors. The intelligent RFID health monitoring system provided the features of the real-time acquisition of biomedical signals and the identification of personal information pertaining to the elderly and patients in nursing homes.

Wide-area continuous offender monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoshen, Joseph; Drake, George; Spencer, Debra D.

1997-02-01

The corrections system in the U.S. is supervising over five million offenders. This number is rising fast and so are the direct and indirect costs to society. To improve supervision and reduce the cost of parole and probation, first generation home arrest systems were introduced in 1987. While these systems proved to be helpful to the corrections system, their scope is rather limited because they only cover an offender at a single location and provide only a partial time coverage. To correct the limitations of first- generation systems, second-generation wide area continuous electronic offender monitoring systems, designed to monitor the offender at all times and locations, are now on the drawing board. These systems use radio frequency location technology to track the position of offenders. The challenge for this technology is the development of reliable personal locator devices that are small, lightweight, with long operational battery life, and indoors/outdoors accuracy of 100 meters or less. At the center of a second-generation system is a database that specifies the offender's home, workplace, commute, and time the offender should be found in each. The database could also define areas from which the offender is excluded. To test compliance, the system would compare the observed coordinates of the offender with the stored location for a given time interval. Database logfiles will also enable law enforcement to determine if a monitored offender was present at a crime scene and thus include or exclude the offender as a potential suspect.

Wide area continuous offender monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoshen, J.; Drake, G.; Spencer, D.

The corrections system in the U.S. is supervising over five million offenders. This number is rising fast and so are the direct and indirect costs to society. To improve supervision and reduce the cost of parole and probation, first generation home arrest systems were introduced in 1987. While these systems proved to be helpful to the corrections system, their scope is rather limited because they only cover an offender at a single location and provide only a partial time coverage. To correct the limitations of first-generation systems, second-generation wide area continuous electronic offender monitoring systems, designed to monitor the offendermore » at all times and locations, are now on the drawing board. These systems use radio frequency location technology to track the position of offenders. The challenge for this technology is the development of reliable personal locator devices that are small, lightweight, with long operational battery life, and indoors/outdoors accuracy of 100 meters or less. At the center of a second-generation system is a database that specifies the offender`s home, workplace, commute, and time the offender should be found in each. The database could also define areas from which the offender is excluded. To test compliance, the system would compare the observed coordinates of the offender with the stored location for a given time interval. Database logfiles will also enable law enforcement to determine if a monitored offender was present at a crime scene and thus include or exclude the offender as a potential suspect.« less

Wireless remote monitoring system for sleep apnea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Sechang; Kwon, Hyeokjun; Varadan, Vijay K.

2011-04-01

Sleep plays the important role of rejuvenating the body, especially the central nervous system. However, more than thirty million people suffer from sleep disorders and sleep deprivation. That can cause serious health consequences by increasing the risk of hypertension, diabetes, heart attack and so on. Apart from the physical health risk, sleep disorders can lead to social problems when sleep disorders are not diagnosed and treated. Currently, sleep disorders are diagnosed through sleep study in a sleep laboratory overnight. This involves large expenses in addition to the inconvenience of overnight hospitalization and disruption of daily life activities. Although some systems provide home based diagnosis, most of systems record the sleep data in a memory card, the patient has to face the inconvenience of sending the memory card to a doctor for diagnosis. To solve the problem, we propose a wireless sensor system for sleep apnea, which enables remote monitoring while the patient is at home. The system has 5 channels to measure ECG, Nasal airflow, body position, abdominal/chest efforts and oxygen saturation. A wireless transmitter unit transmits signals with Zigbee and a receiver unit which has two RF modules, Zigbee and Wi-Fi, receives signals from the transmitter unit and retransmits signals to the remote monitoring system with Zigbee and Wi-Fi, respectively. By using both Zigbee and Wi-Fi, the wireless sensor system can achieve a low power consumption and wide range coverage. The system's features are presented, as well as continuous monitoring results of vital signals.

Indirect Solar Water Heating in Single-Family, Zero Energy Ready Homes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aldrich, Robb

2016-02-17

Solar water heating systems are not new, but they have not become prevalent in most of the U.S. Most of the country is cold enough that indirect solar thermal systems are required for freeze protection, and average installed cost of these systems is $9,000 to $10,000 for typical systems on single-family homes. These costs can vary significantly in different markets and with different contractors, and federal and regional incentives can reduce these up-front costs by 50% or more. In western Massachusetts, an affordable housing developer built a community of 20 homes with a goal of approaching zero net energy consumption.more » In addition to excellent thermal envelopes and PV systems, the developer installed a solar domestic water heating system (SDHW) on each home. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), a research consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building America program, commissioned some of the systems, and CARB was able to monitor detailed performance of one system for 28 months.« less

A low cost, adaptive mixed reality system for home-based stroke rehabilitation.

PubMed

Chen, Yinpeng; Baran, Michael; Sundaram, Hari; Rikakis, Thanassis

2011-01-01

This paper presents a novel, low-cost, real-time adaptive multimedia environment for home-based upper extremity rehabilitation of stroke survivors. The primary goal of this system is to provide an interactive tool with which the stroke survivor can sustain gains achieved within the clinical phase of therapy and increase the opportunity for functional recovery. This home-based mediated system has low cost sensing, off the shelf components for the auditory and visual feedback, and remote monitoring capability. The system is designed to continue active learning by reducing dependency on real-time feedback and focusing on summary feedback after a single task and sequences of tasks. To increase system effectiveness through customization, we use data from the training strategy developed by the therapist at the clinic for each stroke survivor to drive automated system adaptation at the home. The adaptation includes changing training focus, selecting proper feedback coupling both in real-time and in summary, and constructing appropriate dialogues with the stroke survivor to promote more efficient use of the system. This system also allows the therapist to review participant's progress and adjust the training strategy weekly.

Continuing the Epidemiological Function of the Addicts Index--Evidence from Matching the Home Office Addicts Index with the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hickman, Matthew; Griffin, Maria; Mott, Joy; Corkery, John; Madden, Peter; Sondhi, Arun; Stimson, Gerry

2004-01-01

Aims: We discuss the Addicts Index (AI) and examine whether the epidemiological trends of the AI can be continued by the regional drug misuse databases (DMDs, now known as National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS). Methods: (i) Matching individuals recorded as addicted to opiates and/or cocaine in the AI with those reported to the North…

A new venous infusion path monitoring system utilizing electrostatic induced potential.

PubMed

Ogawa, Hidekuni; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Maki, Hiromichi; Caldwell, W Morton

2008-01-01

A new venous infusion pathway monitoring system has been developed for hospital and home use. The system consists of linear and digital integrated circuits and a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer which constantly monitors the infusion pathway intactness. A 330 kHz AC voltage, which is induced on the patient's body by electrostatic coupling from a 330 kHz pulse oscillator, can be recorded by main and reference electrodes wrapped around the infusion polyvinyl chloride tube. If the injection needle or infusion tube becomes detached, then the system detects changes in the induced AC voltages and alerts the nursing station, via the nurse call system or PHS (personal handy phone system).

A telemedicine instrument for Internet-based home monitoring of thoracoabdominal motion in patients with respiratory diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Silva Junior, Evert Pereira; Esteves, Guilherme Pompeu; Dames, Karla Kristine; Melo, Pedro Lopes de

2011-01-01

Changes in thoracoabdominal motion are highly prevalent in patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Home care services that use telemedicine techniques and Internet-based monitoring have the potential to improve the management of these patients. However, there is no detailed description in the literature of a system for Internet-based monitoring of patients with disturbed thoracoabdominal motion. The purpose of this work was to describe the development of a new telemedicine instrument for Internet-based home monitoring of thoracoabdominal movement. The instrument directly measures changes in the thorax and abdomen circumferences and transfers data through a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol connection. After the design details are described, the accuracy of the electronic and software processing units of the instrument is evaluated by using electronic signals simulating normal subjects and individuals with thoracoabdominal motion disorders. The results obtained during in vivo studies on normal subjects simulating thoracoabdominal motion disorders showed that this new system is able to detect a reduction in abdominal movement that is associated with abnormal thoracic breathing (p < 0.0001) and the reduction in thoracic movement during abnormal abdominal breathing (p < 0.005). Simulated asynchrony in thoracoabdominal motion was also adequately detected by the system (p < 0.0001). The experimental results obtained for patients with respiratory diseases were in close agreement with the expected values, providing evidence that this instrument can be a useful tool for the evaluation of thoracoabdominal motion. The Internet transmission tests showed that the acquisition and analysis of the thoracoabdominal motion signals can be performed remotely. The user can also receive medical recommendations. The proposed system can be used in a spectrum of telemedicine scenarios, which can reduce the costs of assistance offered to patients with respiratory diseases.

Comparison of home sleep apnea testing versus laboratory polysomnography for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea in children.

PubMed

Scalzitti, Nicholas; Hansen, Shana; Maturo, Stephen; Lospinoso, Joshua; O'Connor, Peter

2017-09-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 1-5% of pediatric patients. Laboratory polysomnography is expensive, not always available, and is inconvenient for patients. Our study investigates the diagnostic ability of an unattended ambulatory monitor for the diagnosis of pediatric OSA. A prospective study was conducted in children, ages 2-17. Subjects completed in-lab polysomnography simultaneously with ambulatory monitoring. Caregivers attempted home studies on two subsequent nights to compare the home monitor and the laboratory polysomnogram (PSG). Thirty-three subjects completed simultaneous laboratory polysomnogram with portable monitoring. Twenty patients completed home studies, with 16 completing 2 nights of monitoring. The measurement of AHI by the portable monitor was different than that obtained by the PSG with statistical significance for the comparisons of PSG vs. In-Lab (p = 0.0026), PSG vs. Home 1 (p = 0.033), and PSG vs. Home 2 (p = 0.033). The sensitivity of the portable monitor for diagnosing OSA was best for the In-lab use at 81%, but only 69% and 70% for the uses at home on the 2 nights respectively. Interestingly, the comparison of AHI and lowest oxygen saturation measurements from the home sleep test in children age 6 and older did not differ significantly from the PSG. This pilot study demonstrated differences between home sleep testing and in-lab polysomnography for the diagnosis of pediatric sleep apnea. These differences were predominantly found to exist in younger children. Larger prospective studies are needed prior to widespread use, but home studies may alleviate issues of access to care and higher costs of laboratory polysomnography. Published by Elsevier B.V.

TH-E-209-00: Radiation Dose Monitoring and Protocol Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

Radiation dose monitoring solutions have opened up new opportunities for medical physicists to be more involved in modern clinical radiology practices. In particular, with the help of comprehensive radiation dose data, data-driven protocol management and informed case follow up are now feasible. Significant challenges remain however and the problems faced by medical physicists are highly heterogeneous. Imaging systems from multiple vendors and a wide range of vintages co-exist in the same department and employ data communication protocols that are not fully standardized or implemented making harmonization complex. Many different solutions for radiation dose monitoring have been implemented by imaging facilitiesmore » over the past few years. Such systems are based on commercial software, home-grown IT solutions, manual PACS data dumping, etc., and diverse pathways can be used to bring the data to impact clinical practice. The speakers will share their experiences with creating or tailoring radiation dose monitoring/management systems and procedures over the past few years, which vary significantly in design and scope. Topics to cover: (1) fluoroscopic dose monitoring and high radiation event handling from a large academic hospital; (2) dose monitoring and protocol optimization in pediatric radiology; and (3) development of a home-grown IT solution and dose data analysis framework. Learning Objectives: Describe the scope and range of radiation dose monitoring and protocol management in a modern radiology practice Review examples of data available from a variety of systems and how it managed and conveyed. Reflect on the role of the physicist in radiation dose awareness.« less

TH-E-209-01: Fluoroscopic Dose Monitoring and Patient Follow-Up Program at Massachusetts General Hospital

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, B.

2016-06-15

Radiation dose monitoring solutions have opened up new opportunities for medical physicists to be more involved in modern clinical radiology practices. In particular, with the help of comprehensive radiation dose data, data-driven protocol management and informed case follow up are now feasible. Significant challenges remain however and the problems faced by medical physicists are highly heterogeneous. Imaging systems from multiple vendors and a wide range of vintages co-exist in the same department and employ data communication protocols that are not fully standardized or implemented making harmonization complex. Many different solutions for radiation dose monitoring have been implemented by imaging facilitiesmore » over the past few years. Such systems are based on commercial software, home-grown IT solutions, manual PACS data dumping, etc., and diverse pathways can be used to bring the data to impact clinical practice. The speakers will share their experiences with creating or tailoring radiation dose monitoring/management systems and procedures over the past few years, which vary significantly in design and scope. Topics to cover: (1) fluoroscopic dose monitoring and high radiation event handling from a large academic hospital; (2) dose monitoring and protocol optimization in pediatric radiology; and (3) development of a home-grown IT solution and dose data analysis framework. Learning Objectives: Describe the scope and range of radiation dose monitoring and protocol management in a modern radiology practice Review examples of data available from a variety of systems and how it managed and conveyed. Reflect on the role of the physicist in radiation dose awareness.« less

TH-E-209-02: Dose Monitoring and Protocol Optimization: The Pediatric Perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MacDougall, R.

Radiation dose monitoring solutions have opened up new opportunities for medical physicists to be more involved in modern clinical radiology practices. In particular, with the help of comprehensive radiation dose data, data-driven protocol management and informed case follow up are now feasible. Significant challenges remain however and the problems faced by medical physicists are highly heterogeneous. Imaging systems from multiple vendors and a wide range of vintages co-exist in the same department and employ data communication protocols that are not fully standardized or implemented making harmonization complex. Many different solutions for radiation dose monitoring have been implemented by imaging facilitiesmore » over the past few years. Such systems are based on commercial software, home-grown IT solutions, manual PACS data dumping, etc., and diverse pathways can be used to bring the data to impact clinical practice. The speakers will share their experiences with creating or tailoring radiation dose monitoring/management systems and procedures over the past few years, which vary significantly in design and scope. Topics to cover: (1) fluoroscopic dose monitoring and high radiation event handling from a large academic hospital; (2) dose monitoring and protocol optimization in pediatric radiology; and (3) development of a home-grown IT solution and dose data analysis framework. Learning Objectives: Describe the scope and range of radiation dose monitoring and protocol management in a modern radiology practice Review examples of data available from a variety of systems and how it managed and conveyed. Reflect on the role of the physicist in radiation dose awareness.« less

Testing the Feasibility of Remote Patient Monitoring in Prenatal Care Using a Mobile App and Connected Devices: A Prospective Observational Trial.

PubMed

Marko, Kathryn I; Krapf, Jill M; Meltzer, Andrew C; Oh, Julia; Ganju, Nihar; Martinez, Anjali G; Sheth, Sheetal G; Gaba, Nancy D

2016-11-18

Excessive weight gain and elevated blood pressure are significant risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes such as gestational diabetes, premature birth, and preeclampsia. More effective strategies to facilitate adherence to gestational weight gain goals and monitor blood pressure may have a positive health benefit for pregnant women and their babies. The impact of utilizing a remote patient monitoring system to monitor blood pressure and weight gain as a component of prenatal care has not been previously assessed. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of monitoring patients remotely in prenatal care using a mobile phone app and connected digital devices. In this prospective observational study, 8 women with low risk pregnancy in the first trimester were recruited at an urban academic medical center. Participants received a mobile phone app with a connected digital weight scale and blood pressure cuff for at-home data collection for the duration of pregnancy. At-home data was assessed for abnormal values of blood pressure or weight to generate clinical alerts to the patient and provider. As measures of the feasibility of the system, participants were studied for engagement with the app, accuracy of remote data, efficacy of alert system, and patient satisfaction. Patient engagement with the mobile app averaged 5.5 times per week over the 6-month study period. Weight data collection and blood pressure data collection averaged 1.5 times and 1.1 times per week, respectively. At-home measurements of weight and blood pressure were highly accurate compared to in-office measurements. Automatic clinical alerts identified two episodes of abnormal weight gain with no false triggers. Patients demonstrated high satisfaction with the system. In this pilot study, we demonstrated that a system using a mobile phone app coupled to remote monitoring devices is feasible for prenatal care. ©Kathryn I Marko, Jill M Krapf, Andrew C Meltzer, Julia Oh, Nihar Ganju, Anjali G Martinez, Sheetal G Sheth, Nancy D Gaba. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 18.11.2016.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Three side-by-side lab houses were built, instrumented and monitored in an effort to determine through field testing and analysis the relative contributions of select technologies toward reducing energy use in new manufactured homes.The lab houses in Russellville, Alabama compared the performance of three homes built to varying levels of thermal integrity and HVAC equipment: a baseline HUD-code home equipped with an electric furnace and a split system air conditioner; an ENERGY STAR manufactured home with an enhanced thermal envelope and traditional split system heat pump; and a house designed to qualify for Zero Energy Ready Home designation with a ductlessmore » mini-split heat pump with transfer fan distribution system in place of the traditional duct system for distribution. Experiments were conducted in the lab houses to evaluate impact on energy and comfort of interior door position, window blind position and transfer fan operation. The report describes results of tracer gas and co-heating tests and presents calculation of the heat pump coefficient of performance for both the traditional heat pump and the ductless mini-split. A series of calibrated energy models was developed based on measured data and run in three locations in the Southeast to compare annual energy usage of the three homes.« less

Identifying early dehydration risk with home-based sensors during radiation treatment: a feasibility study on patients with head and neck cancer.

PubMed

Peterson, Susan K; Shinn, Eileen H; Basen-Engquist, Karen; Demark-Wahnefried, Wendy; Prokhorov, Alexander V; Baru, Chaitanya; Krueger, Ingolf H; Farcas, Emilia; Rios, Philip; Garden, Adam S; Beadle, Beth M; Lin, Kai; Yan, Yan; Martch, Stephanie L; Patrick, Kevin

2013-12-01

Systems that enable remote monitoring of patients' symptoms and other health-related outcomes may optimize cancer care outside of the clinic setting. CYCORE (CYberinfrastructure for COmparative effectiveness REsearch) is a software-based prototype for a user-friendly cyberinfrastructure supporting the comprehensive collection and analyses of data from multiple domains using a suite of home-based and mobile sensors. This study evaluated the feasibility of using CYCORE to address early at-home identification of dehydration risk in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Head and neck cancer patients used home-based sensors to capture weight, blood pressure, pulse, and patient-reported outcomes for two 5-day periods during radiation therapy. Data were sent to the radiation oncologist of each head and neck cancer patient, who viewed them online via a Web-based interface. Feasibility outcomes included study completion rate, acceptability and perceived usefulness of the intervention, and adherence to the monitoring protocol. We also evaluated whether sensor data could identify dehydration-related events. Fifty patients consented to participate, and 48 (96%) completed the study. More than 90% of patients rated their ease, self-efficacy, and satisfaction regarding use of the sensor suite as extremely favorable, with minimal concerns expressed regarding data privacy issues. Patients highly valued the ability to have immediate access to objective, self-monitoring data related to personal risk for dehydration. Clinician assessments indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the ease of using the CYCORE system and the resulting ability to monitor their patients remotely. Implementing CYCORE in a clinical oncology care setting is feasible and highly acceptable to both patients and providers.

Identifying Early Dehydration Risk With Home-Based Sensors During Radiation Treatment: A Feasibility Study on Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Systems that enable remote monitoring of patients’ symptoms and other health-related outcomes may optimize cancer care outside of the clinic setting. CYCORE (CYberinfrastructure for COmparative effectiveness REsearch) is a software-based prototype for a user-friendly cyberinfrastructure supporting the comprehensive collection and analyses of data from multiple domains using a suite of home-based and mobile sensors. This study evaluated the feasibility of using CYCORE to address early at-home identification of dehydration risk in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. Methods Head and neck cancer patients used home-based sensors to capture weight, blood pressure, pulse, and patient-reported outcomes for two 5-day periods during radiation therapy. Data were sent to the radiation oncologist of each head and neck cancer patient, who viewed them online via a Web-based interface. Feasibility outcomes included study completion rate, acceptability and perceived usefulness of the intervention, and adherence to the monitoring protocol. We also evaluated whether sensor data could identify dehydration-related events. Results Fifty patients consented to participate, and 48 (96%) completed the study. More than 90% of patients rated their ease, self-efficacy, and satisfaction regarding use of the sensor suite as extremely favorable, with minimal concerns expressed regarding data privacy issues. Patients highly valued the ability to have immediate access to objective, self-monitoring data related to personal risk for dehydration. Clinician assessments indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the ease of using the CYCORE system and the resulting ability to monitor their patients remotely. Conclusion Implementing CYCORE in a clinical oncology care setting is feasible and highly acceptable to both patients and providers. PMID:24395986

Resource guide 2004. Blood glucose. Monitors and data management systems.

PubMed

2004-01-01

Before you buy a blood glucose monitor (also known as a blood glucose meter), check with your doctor and diabetes educator. Make sure the one you choose is well suited to your particular needs. You might want to have one at home and one for use at school or the office.

TH-E-209-03: Development of An In-House CT Dose Monitoring and Management System Based On Open-Source Software Resources -- Pearls and Pitfalls

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, D.

Radiation dose monitoring solutions have opened up new opportunities for medical physicists to be more involved in modern clinical radiology practices. In particular, with the help of comprehensive radiation dose data, data-driven protocol management and informed case follow up are now feasible. Significant challenges remain however and the problems faced by medical physicists are highly heterogeneous. Imaging systems from multiple vendors and a wide range of vintages co-exist in the same department and employ data communication protocols that are not fully standardized or implemented making harmonization complex. Many different solutions for radiation dose monitoring have been implemented by imaging facilitiesmore » over the past few years. Such systems are based on commercial software, home-grown IT solutions, manual PACS data dumping, etc., and diverse pathways can be used to bring the data to impact clinical practice. The speakers will share their experiences with creating or tailoring radiation dose monitoring/management systems and procedures over the past few years, which vary significantly in design and scope. Topics to cover: (1) fluoroscopic dose monitoring and high radiation event handling from a large academic hospital; (2) dose monitoring and protocol optimization in pediatric radiology; and (3) development of a home-grown IT solution and dose data analysis framework. Learning Objectives: Describe the scope and range of radiation dose monitoring and protocol management in a modern radiology practice Review examples of data available from a variety of systems and how it managed and conveyed. Reflect on the role of the physicist in radiation dose awareness.« less

Activity Learning as a Foundation for Security Monitoring in Smart Homes

PubMed Central

Dahmen, Jessamyn; Thomas, Brian L.; Cook, Diane J.; Wang, Xiaobo

2017-01-01

Smart environment technology has matured to the point where it is regularly used in everyday homes as well as research labs. With this maturation of the technology, we can consider using smart homes as a practical mechanism for improving home security. In this paper, we introduce an activity-aware approach to security monitoring and threat detection in smart homes. We describe our approach using the CASAS smart home framework and activity learning algorithms. By monitoring for activity-based anomalies we can detect possible threats and take appropriate action. We evaluate our proposed method using data collected in CASAS smart homes and demonstrate the partnership between activity-aware smart homes and biometric devices in the context of the CASAS on-campus smart apartment testbed. PMID:28362342

Home labour induction with retrievable prostaglandin pessary and continuous telemetric trans-abdominal fetal ECG monitoring.

PubMed

Rauf, Zubair; O'Brien, Ediri; Stampalija, Tamara; Ilioniu, Florin P; Lavender, Tina; Alfirevic, Zarko

2011-01-01

To evaluate the feasibility of continuous telemetric trans-abdominal fetal electrocardiogram (a-fECG) in women undergoing labour induction at home. Low risk women with singleton term pregnancy undergoing labour induction with retrievable, slow-release dinoprostone pessaries (n = 70) were allowed home for up to 24 hours, while a-fECG and uterine activity were monitored in hospital via wireless technology. Semi-structured diaries were analysed using a combined descriptive and interpretive approach. 62/70 women (89%) had successful home monitoring; 8 women (11%) were recalled because of signal loss. Home monitoring lasted between 2-22 hours (median 10 hours). Good quality signal was achieved most of the time (86%, SD 10%). 3 women were recalled back to hospital for suspicious a-fECG. In 2 cases suspicious a-fECG persisted, requiring Caesarean section after recall to hospital. 48/51 women who returned the diary coped well (94%); 46/51 were satisfied with home monitoring (90%). Continuous telemetric trans-abdominal fetal ECG monitoring of ambulatory women undergoing labour induction is feasible and acceptable to women.

SCORHE: a novel and practical approach to video monitoring of laboratory mice housed in vivarium cage racks.

PubMed

Salem, Ghadi H; Dennis, John U; Krynitsky, Jonathan; Garmendia-Cedillos, Marcial; Swaroop, Kanchan; Malley, James D; Pajevic, Sinisa; Abuhatzira, Liron; Bustin, Michael; Gillet, Jean-Pierre; Gottesman, Michael M; Mitchell, James B; Pohida, Thomas J

2015-03-01

The System for Continuous Observation of Rodents in Home-cage Environment (SCORHE) was developed to demonstrate the viability of compact and scalable designs for quantifying activity levels and behavior patterns for mice housed within a commercial ventilated cage rack. The SCORHE in-rack design provides day- and night-time monitoring with the consistency and convenience of the home-cage environment. The dual-video camera custom hardware design makes efficient use of space, does not require home-cage modification, and is animal-facility user-friendly. Given the system's low cost and suitability for use in existing vivariums without modification to the animal husbandry procedures or housing setup, SCORHE opens up the potential for the wider use of automated video monitoring in animal facilities. SCORHE's potential uses include day-to-day health monitoring, as well as advanced behavioral screening and ethology experiments, ranging from the assessment of the short- and long-term effects of experimental cancer treatments to the evaluation of mouse models. When used for phenotyping and animal model studies, SCORHE aims to eliminate the concerns often associated with many mouse-monitoring methods, such as circadian rhythm disruption, acclimation periods, lack of night-time measurements, and short monitoring periods. Custom software integrates two video streams to extract several mouse activity and behavior measures. Studies comparing the activity levels of ABCB5 knockout and HMGN1 overexpresser mice with their respective C57BL parental strains demonstrate SCORHE's efficacy in characterizing the activity profiles for singly- and doubly-housed mice. Another study was conducted to demonstrate the ability of SCORHE to detect a change in activity resulting from administering a sedative.

Blood pressure monitors for home

MedlinePlus

... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007482.htm Blood pressure monitors for home To use the sharing features ... may ask you to keep track of your blood pressure at home. To do this, you will need ...

A Low-Cost, Reliable, High-Throughput System for Rodent Behavioral Phenotyping in a Home Cage Environment

PubMed Central

Parkison, Steven A.; Carlson, Jay D.; Chaudoin, Tammy R.; Hoke, Traci A.; Schenk, A. Katrin; Goulding, Evan H.; Pérez, Lance C.; Bonasera, Stephen J.

2016-01-01

Inexpensive, high-throughput, low maintenance systems for precise temporal and spatial measurement of mouse home cage behavior (including movement, feeding, and drinking) are required to evaluate products from large scale pharmaceutical design and genetic lesion programs. These measurements are also required to interpret results from more focused behavioral assays. We describe the design and validation of a highly-scalable, reliable mouse home cage behavioral monitoring system modeled on a previously described, one-of-a-kind system [1]. Mouse position was determined by solving static equilibrium equations describing the force and torques acting on the system strain gauges; feeding events were detected by a photobeam across the food hopper, and drinking events were detected by a capacitive lick sensor. Validation studies show excellent agreement between mouse position and drinking events measured by the system compared with video-based observation – a gold standard in neuroscience. PMID:23366406

The non-contact heart rate measurement system for monitoring HRV.

PubMed

Huang, Ji-Jer; Yu, Sheng-I; Syu, Hao-Yi; See, Aaron Raymond

2013-01-01

A noncontact ECG monitoring and analysis system was developed using capacitive-coupled device integrated to a home sofa. Electrodes were placed on the backrest of a sofa separated from the body with only the chair covering and the user's clothing. The study also incorporates measurements using different fabric materials, and a pure cotton material was chosen to cover the chair's backrest. The material was chosen to improve the signal to noise ratio. The system is initially implemented on a home sofa and is able to measure non-contact ECG through thin cotton clothing and perform heart rate analysis to calculate the heart rate variability (HRV) parameters. It was also tested under different conditions and results from reading and sleeping exhibited a stable ECG. Subsequently, results from our calculated HRV were found to be identical to those of a commercially available HRV analyzer. However, HRV parameters are easily affected by motion artifacts generated during drinking or eating with the latter producing a more severe disturbance. Lastly, parameters measured are saved on a cloud database, providing users with a long-term monitoring and recording for physiological information.

Posture recognition based on fuzzy logic for home monitoring of the elderly.

PubMed

Brulin, Damien; Benezeth, Yannick; Courtial, Estelle

2012-09-01

We propose in this paper a computer vision-based posture recognition method for home monitoring of the elderly. The proposed system performs human detection prior to the posture analysis; posture recognition is performed only on a human silhouette. The human detection approach has been designed to be robust to different environmental stimuli. Thus, posture is analyzed with simple and efficient features that are not designed to manage constraints related to the environment but only designed to describe human silhouettes. The posture recognition method, based on fuzzy logic, identifies four static postures and is robust to variation in the distance between the camera and the person, and to the person's morphology. With an accuracy of 74.29% of satisfactory posture recognition, this approach can detect emergency situations such as a fall within a health smart home.

A household LOC device for online monitoring bacterial pathogens in drinking water with green design concept.

PubMed

Zhao, Xinyan; Dong, Tao

2013-01-01

Bacterial waterborne pathogens often threaten the water safety of the drinking water system. In order to protect the health of home users, a household lab-on-a-chip (LOC) device was developed for online monitoring bacterial pathogens in drinking water, which are in accord with green design concept. The chip integrated counter-flow micromixers, a T-junction droplet generator and time-delay channels (TD-Cs), which can mix water sample and reactants into droplets in air flow and incubate the droplets in the LOC for about 18 hours before observation. The detection module was simplified into a transparent observation chamber, from which the home users can evaluate the qualitative result by naked eyes. The liquid waste generated by the LOC system was sterilized and absorbed by quicklime powders. No secondary pollution was found. The preliminary test of the prototype system met its design requirements.

[Possibilities and limitations of telemedicine in general practitioner practices].

PubMed

van den Berg, N; Meinke, C; Hoffmann, W

2009-09-01

According to the AGnES concept (general-practitioner-supporting, community-based, e-health-assisted systemic intervention), general practitioners (GPs) can delegate certain components of medical care in the context of home visits by qualified AGnES employees. Within the framework of six AGnES projects, different telemedical applications have been implemented. Telemedical monitoring of patients was implemented to analyse the feasibility and acceptance within GP practices. One hundred sixty-two patients used a telemedical monitoring system (e.g. scale/sphygmomanometer and intraocular pressure measurement system). Regarding communication in cases of acutely necessary GP consultations, telephone calls and videoconferences between the GP and the AGnES employee were analysed. Unscheduled telephone calls or videoconferences were necessary for only a few home visits; the reasons included pain, anomalous values, and medication problems. The main result of the analysis was that implementation of telemedicine in GP practices is feasible and is accepted both by patients and GPs.

Comfort in High-Performance Homes in a Hot-Humid Climate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poerschke, A.; Beach, R.

2016-01-01

IBACOS monitored 37 homes during the late summer and early fall of 2014 in a hot and humid climate to better understand indoor comfort conditions. These homes were constructed in the last several years by four home builders that offered a comfort and performance guarantee for the homes. The homes were located in one of four cities: Tampa, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Houston, Texas; and San Antonio, Texas. Temperature and humidity data were collected from the thermostat and each room of the house using small, battery-powered data loggers. To understand system runtime and its impact on comfort, supply air temperature alsomore » was measured on a 1-minute interval. Overall, the group of homes only exceeded a room-to-room temperature difference of 6 degrees Fahrenheit for 5% of the time.« less

Use of group quarantine in Ebola control - Nigeria, 2014.

PubMed

Grigg, Cheri; Waziri, Ndadilnasiya E; Olayinka, Adebola T; Vertefeuille, John F

2015-02-13

On July 20, 2014, the first known case of Ebola virus disease (Ebola) in Nigeria, in a traveler from Liberia, led to an outbreak that was successfully curtailed with infection control, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine measures coordinated through an incident management system. During this outbreak, most contacts underwent home monitoring, which included instructions to stay home or to avoid crowded areas if staying home was not possible. However, for five contacts with high-risk exposures, group quarantine in an observation unit was preferred because the five had crowded home environments or occupations that could have resulted in a large number of community exposures if they developed Ebola.

Home geriatric physiological measurements.

PubMed

Tamura, Toshiyo

2012-10-01

In an ageing society, the elderly can be monitored with numerous physiological, physical and passive devices. Sensors can be installed in the home for continuous mobility assistance and unobtrusive disease prevention. This review presents several modern sensors, which improve the quality of life and assist the elderly, disabled people and their caregivers. The main concept of geriatric sensors is that they are capable of providing assistance without limiting or disturbing the subject's daily routine, giving him or her greater comfort, pleasure and well-being. Furthermore, this review includes associated technologies of wearable/implantable monitoring systems and the 'smart-house' project. This review concludes by discussing future challenges of the future aged society.

Ownership conversions and nursing home performance.

PubMed

Grabowski, David C; Stevenson, David G

2008-08-01

To examine the effects of ownership conversions on nursing home performance. Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting system data from 1993 to 2004, and the Minimum Data Set (MDS) facility reports from 1998 to 2004. Regression specification incorporating facility fixed effects, with terms to identify trends in the pre- and postconversion periods. The annual rate of nursing home conversions almost tripled between 1994 and 2004. Our regression results indicate converting facilities are generally different throughout the pre/postconversion years, suggesting little causal effect of ownership conversions on nursing home performance. Before and after conversion, nursing homes converting from nonprofit to for-profit status generally exhibit deterioration in their performance, while nursing homes converting from for-profit to nonprofit status generally exhibit improvement. Policy makers have expressed concern regarding the implications of ownership conversions for nursing home performance. Our results imply that regulators and policy makers should not only monitor the outcomes of nursing home conversions, but also the targets of these conversions.

The smart house for older persons and persons with physical disabilities: structure, technology arrangements, and perspectives.

PubMed

Stefanov, Dimitar H; Bien, Zeungnam; Bang, Won-Chul

2004-06-01

Smart houses are considered a good alternative for the independent life of older persons and persons with disabilities. Numerous intelligent devices, embedded into the home environment, can provide the resident with both movement assistance and 24-h health monitoring. Modern home-installed systems tend to be not only physically versatile in functionality but also emotionally human-friendly, i.e., they may be able to perform their functions without disturbing the user and without causing him/her any pain, inconvenience, or movement restriction, instead possibly providing him/her with comfort and pleasure. Through an extensive survey, this paper analyzes the building blocks of smart houses, with particular attention paid to the health monitoring subsystem as an important component, by addressing the basic requirements of various sensors implemented from both research and clinical perspectives. The paper will then discuss some important issues of the future development of an intelligent residential space with a human-friendly health monitoring functional system.

Home blood pressure monitoring, secure electronic messaging and medication intensification for improving hypertension control: a mediation analysis.

PubMed

Ralston, J D; Cook, A J; Anderson, M L; Catz, S L; Fishman, P A; Carlson, J; Johnson, R; Green, B B

2014-01-01

We evaluated the role of home monitoring, communication with pharmacists, medication intensification, medication adherence and lifestyle factors in contributing to the effectiveness of an intervention to improve blood pressure control in patients with uncontrolled essential hypertension. We performed a mediation analysis of a published randomized trial based on the Chronic Care Model delivered over a secure patient website from June 2005 to December 2007. Study arms analyzed included usual care with a home blood pressure monitor and usual care with home blood pressure monitor and web-based pharmacist care. Mediator measures included secure messaging and telephone encounters; home blood pressure monitoring; medications intensification and adherence and lifestyle factors. Overall fidelity to the Chronic Care Model was assessed with the Patient Assessment of Chronic Care (PACIC) instrument. The primary outcome was percent of participants with blood pressure (BP) <140/90 mm Hg. At 12 months follow-up, patients in the web-based pharmacist care group were more likely to have BP <140/90 mm Hg (55%) compared to patients in the group with home blood pressure monitors only (37%) (p = 0.001). Home blood pressure monitoring accounted for 30.3% of the intervention effect, secure electronic messaging accounted for 96%, and medication intensification for 29.3%. Medication adherence and self-report of fruit and vegetable intake and weight change were not different between the two study groups. The PACIC score accounted for 22.0 % of the main intervention effect. The effect of web-based pharmacist care on improved blood pressure control was explained in part through a combination of home blood pressure monitoring, secure messaging, and antihypertensive medication intensification.

EMon: Embodied Monitorization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carneiro, Davide; Novais, Paulo; Costa, Ricardo; Gomes, Pedro; Neves, José

The amount of seniors in need of constant care is rapidly rising: an evident consequence of population ageing. There are already some monitorization environments which aim to monitor these persons while they remain at home. This, however, although better than delocalizing the elder to some kind of institution, may not still be the ideal solution, as it forces them to stay inside the home more than they wished, as going out means lack of accompaniment and a consequent sensation of fear. In this paper we propose EMon: a monitorization device small enough to be worn by its users, although powerful enough to provide the higher level monitorization systems with vital information about the user and the environment around him. We hope to allow the representation of an intelligent environment to move with its users, instead of being static, mandatorily associated to a single physical location. The first prototype of EMon, as presented in this paper, provides environmental data as well as GPS coordinates and pictures that are useful to describe the context of its user.

MEMS device for mass market gas and chemical sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinkade, Brian R.; Daly, James T.; Johnson, Edward A.

2000-08-01

Gas and chemical sensors are used in many applications. Industrial health and safety monitors allow companies to meet OSHA requirements by detecting harmful levels of toxic or combustible gases. Vehicle emissions are tested during annual inspections. Blood alcohol breathalizers are used by law enforcement. Refrigerant leak detection ensures that the Earth's ozone layer is not being compromised. Industrial combustion emissions are also monitored to minimize pollution. Heating and ventilation systems watch for high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) to trigger an increase in fresh air exchange. Carbon monoxide detectors are used in homes to prevent poisoning from poor combustion ventilation. Anesthesia gases are monitored during a patients operation. The current economic reality is that two groups of gas sensor technologies are competing in two distinct existing market segments - affordable (less reliable) chemical reaction sensors for consumer markets and reliable (expensive) infrared (IR) spectroscopic sensors for industrial, laboratory, and medical instrumentation markets. Presently high volume mass-market applications are limited to CO detectros and on-board automotive emissions sensors. Due to reliability problems with electrochemical sensor-based CO detectors there is a hesitancy to apply these sensors in other high volume applications. Applications such as: natural gas leak detection, non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, home indoor air quality, personal/portable air quality monitors, home fire/burnt cooking detector, and home food spoilage detectors need a sensor that is a small, efficient, accurate, sensitive, reliable, and inexpensive. Connecting an array of these next generation gas sensors to wireless networks that are starting to proliferate today creates many other applications. Asthmatics could preview the air quality of their destinations as they venture out into the day. HVAC systems could determine if fresh air intake was actually better than the air in the house. Internet grocery delivery services could check for spoiled foods in their clients' refrigerators. City emissions regulators could monitor the various emissions sources throughout the area from their desk to predict how many pollution vouchers they will need to trade in the next week. We describe a new component architecture for mass-market sensors based on silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. MEMS are micrometer-scale devices that can be fabricated as discrete devices or large arrays, using the technology of integrated circuit manufacturing. These new photonic bandgap and MEMS fabricataion technologies will simplify the component technology to provide high-quality gas and chemical sensors at consumer prices.

Monitoring Outpatient Care

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

Each year, health care costs for managing chronically ill patients increase as the life expectancy of Americans continues to grow. To handle this situation, many hospitals, doctors practices, and home care providers are turning to disease management, a system of coordinated health care interventions and communications, to improve outpatient care. By participating in daily monitoring programs, patients with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions requiring significant self-care are facing fewer emergency situations and hospitalizations. Cybernet Medical, a division of Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Cybernet Systems Corporation, is using the latest communications technology to augment the ways health care professionals monitor and assess patients with chronic diseases, while at the same time simplifying the patients interaction with technology. Cybernet s newest commercial product for this purpose evolved from research funded by NASA, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency. The research focused on the physiological assessment of astronauts and soldiers, human performance evaluation, and human-computer interaction. Cybernet Medical's MedStar Disease Management Data Collection System is an affordable, widely deployable solution for improving in-home-patient chronic disease management. The system's battery-powered and portable interface device collects physiological data from off-the-shelf instruments.

A new infusion pathway intactness monitoring system.

PubMed

Ogawa, Hidekuni; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Maki, Hiromichi; Ninomiya, Ishio; Sata, Koji; Hamada, Shingo; Caldwell, W Morton

2006-01-01

A new infusion pathway monitoring system has been developed for hospital and home use. The system consists of linear integrated circuits and a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer which constantly monitors the infusion pathway intactness. An AC (alternating current) voltage is induced on the patient's body by electrostatic coupling from the normal 100 volt, 60 Hz AC power line wiring field in the patient's room. The induced AC voltage can be recorded by a main electrode wrapped around the infusion polyvinyl chloride tube. A reference electrode is wrapped on the electrode to monitor the AC voltage around the main electrode. If the injection needle or infusion tube becomes detached, then the system detects changes in the induced AC voltages and alerts the nursing station, via the nurse call system or PHS (personal handy phone system).

An ontology-based system for context-aware and configurable services to support home-based continuous care.

PubMed

Paganelli, Federica; Giuli, Dino

2011-03-01

Continuous care models for chronic diseases pose several technology-oriented challenges for home-based care, where assistance services rely on a close collaboration among different stakeholders, such as health operators, patient relatives, and social community members. This paper describes an ontology-based context model and a related context management system providing a configurable and extensible service-oriented framework to ease the development of applications for monitoring and handling patient chronic conditions. The system has been developed in a prototypal version, and integrated with a service platform for supporting operators of home-based care networks in cooperating and sharing patient-related information and coordinating mutual interventions for handling critical and alarm situations. Finally, we discuss experimentation results and possible further research directions.

Home security system using internet of things

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anitha, A.

2017-11-01

IoT refers to the infrastructure of connected physical devices which is growing at a rapid rate as huge number of devices and objects are getting associated to the Internet. Home security is a very useful application of IoT and we are using it to create an inexpensive security system for homes as well as industrial use. The system will inform the owner about any unauthorized entry or whenever the door is opened by sending a notification to the user. After the user gets the notification, he can take the necessary actions. The security system will use a microcontroller known as Arduino Uno to interface between the components, a magnetic Reed sensor to monitor the status, a buzzer for sounding the alarm, and a WiFi module, ESP8266 to connect and communicate using the Internet. The main advantages of such a system includes the ease of setting up, lower costs and low maintenance.

Safety assessment of a home-based telecare system for adults with developmental disabilities in Indiana: a multi-stakeholder perspective.

PubMed

Brewer, Jeffrey L; Taber-Doughty, Teresa; Kubik, Sara

2010-01-01

We investigated the perceptions of people about the safety, security and privacy of a telecare monitoring system for adults with developmental disabilities living in residential settings. The telecare system was used by remote caregivers overnight, when staff were not present in the homes. We surveyed 127 people from different stakeholder groups in the state of Indiana. The people surveyed included those with knowledge or experience of telecare, and those without. The stakeholders were clients, their advocates, service provider administrators and independent case coordinators. The responses in each category for every group were positive except one: only 4 of the 11 telecare case coordinators agreed that the telecare system provided a secure environment. Overall, the telecare system was perceived to be as safe, secure and private as the conventional alternative of having staff in the home.

RDI's Wisdom Way Solar Village Final Report: Includes Utility Bill Analysis of Occupied Homes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robb Aldrich, Steven Winter Associates

2011-07-01

In 2010, Rural Development, Inc. (RDI) completed construction of Wisdom Way Solar Village (WWSV), a community of ten duplexes (20 homes) in Greenfield, MA. RDI was committed to very low energy use from the beginning of the design process throughout construction. Key features include: 1. Careful site plan so that all homes have solar access (for active and passive); 2. Cellulose insulation providing R-40 walls, R-50 ceiling, and R-40 floors; 3. Triple-pane windows; 4. Airtight construction (~0.1 CFM50/ft2 enclosure area); 5. Solar water heating systems with tankless, gas, auxiliary heaters; 6. PV systems (2.8 or 3.4kWSTC); 7. 2-4 bedrooms, 1,100-1,700more » ft2. The design heating loads in the homes were so small that each home is heated with a single, sealed-combustion, natural gas room heater. The cost savings from the simple HVAC systems made possible the tremendous investments in the homes' envelopes. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) monitored temperatures and comfort in several homes during the winter of 2009-2010. In the Spring of 2011, CARB obtained utility bill information from 13 occupied homes. Because of efficient lights, appliances, and conscientious home occupants, the energy generated by the solar electric systems exceeded the electric energy used in most homes. Most homes, in fact, had a net credit from the electric utility over the course of a year. On the natural gas side, total gas costs averaged $377 per year (for heating, water heating, cooking, and clothes drying). Total energy costs were even less - $337 per year, including all utility fees. The highest annual energy bill for any home evaluated was $458; the lowest was $171.« less

A new infusion pathway monitoring system utilizing electrostatic induced potential.

PubMed

Maki, Hiromichi; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Ogawa, Hidekuni; Ninomiya, Ishio; Sada, Kouji; Hamada, Shingo; Hahn, Alien W; Caldwell, W Morton

2006-01-01

We have developed a new infusion pathway monitoring system employing linear integrated circuits and a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer. The system is available for hospital and home use and it constantly monitors the intactness of the pathway. The sensor is an electro-conductive polymer electrode wrapped around the infusion polyvinyl chloride infusion tube. This records an AC (alternating current) voltage induced on the patient's body by electrostatic coupling from the normal 100 volt, 60 Hz AC power line wiring field in the patient's room. If the injection needle or infusion tube becomes detached, then the system detects changes in the induced AC voltage and alerts the nursing station, via the nurse call system or PHS (personal handy phone System).

Customization of home closed-loop insulin delivery in adult patients with type 1 diabetes, assisted with structured remote monitoring: the pilot WP7 Diabeloop study.

PubMed

Benhamou, Pierre Yves; Huneker, Erik; Franc, Sylvia; Doron, Maeva; Charpentier, Guillaume

2018-06-01

Improvement in closed-loop insulin delivery systems could result from customization of settings to individual needs and remote monitoring. This pilot home study evaluated the efficacy and relevance of this approach. A bicentric clinical trial was conducted for 3 weeks, using an MPC-based algorithm (Diabeloop Artificial Pancreas system) featuring five settings designed to modulate the reactivity of regulation. Remote monitoring was ensured by expert nurses with a web platform generating automatic Secured Information Messages (SIMs) and with a structured procedure. Endpoints were glucose metrics and description of impact of monitoring on regulation parameters. Eight patients with type 1 diabetes (six men, age 41.8 ± 11.4 years, HbA1c 7.7 ± 1.0%) were included. Time spent in the 70-180 mg/dl range was 70.2% [67.5; 76.9]. Time in hypoglycemia < 70 mg/dl was 2.9% [2.1; 3.4]. Eleven SIMs led to phone intervention. Original default settings were modified in all patients by the intervention of the nurses. This pilot trial suggests that the Diabeloop closed-loop system could be efficient regarding metabolic outcomes, whereas its telemedical monitoring feature could contribute to enhanced efficacy and safety. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov with trial registration number NCT02987556.

Provider experiences with negative-pressure wound therapy systems.

PubMed

Kaufman-Rivi, Diana; Hazlett, Antoinette C; Hardy, Mary Anne; Smith, Jacquelyn M; Seid, Heather B

2013-07-01

MedWatch, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) nationwide adverse event reporting system, serves to monitor device performance after a medical device is approved or cleared for market. Through the MedWatch adverse event reporting system, the FDA receives Medical Device Reports of deaths and serious injuries with negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) systems, many of which are used in homes and in extended-care facilities. In response to reported events, this study was conducted to obtain additional information about device issues that healthcare professionals face in these settings, as well as challenges that caregivers might encounter using this technology at home. The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. The FDA surveyed wound care specialists and professional home healthcare providers to learn about users' experiences with NPWT. In the first phase of the study, a semistructured questionnaire was developed for telephone interviews and self-administration. In the second phase, a web-based survey was adapted from the semistructured instrument. Respondent concerns primarily centered on issues not directly related to the NPWT devices: NPWT prescription, provider education in addition to patient training and appropriate wound management practices, notably ongoing wound assessment, and patient monitoring. Overall, respondents thought that there was a definite benefit to NPWT, regardless of the care setting, and that it was a safe therapy when prescribed and administered appropriately.

A system for ubiquitous fall monitoring at home via a wireless sensor network.

PubMed

Fernandez-Luque, Francisco J; Zapata, Juan; Ruiz, Ramon

2010-01-01

Accidental falls of our elderly, and physical injuries resulting, represent a major health and economic. Falls are the most common causes of serious injuries and a major health threats in the stratum of older population. Early detection of a fall is a key factor when trying to provide adequate care to the elderly person who has suffered an accident at home. In this paper, we present a support system for detecting falls of an elder person by a static wireless nonintrusive sensorial infrastructure based on heterogenous sensor nodes. This previous infrastructure, named AID (Alarm Intelligent Device), is an AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) system that allows to infer a potential fall. We have developed, different to other contributions, a specific low-power multi-hop network consists of nodes (Motes) that wirelessly communicate to each other and are capable of hopping radio messages to a base station where they are passed to a PC (or other possible client). The goal of this project is 1) to provide alerts to caregivers in the event of an accident, acute illness or strange (possibly dangerous) activities, and 2) to enable that authorized and authenticated caregivers by means of a itinerant wearable mote can be inserted into mesh and interact with it. In this paper, we describe an ubiquitous assistential monitoring system at home.

Ageing-in-place with the use of ambient intelligence technology: perspectives of older users.

PubMed

van Hoof, J; Kort, H S M; Rutten, P G S; Duijnstee, M S H

2011-05-01

Ambient intelligence technologies are a means to support ageing-in-place by monitoring clients in the home. In this study, monitoring is applied for the purpose of raising an alarm in an emergency situation, and thereby, providing an increased sense of safety and security. Apart from these technological solutions, there are numerous environmental interventions in the home environment that can support people to age-in-place. The aim of this study was to investigate the needs and motives, related to ageing-in-place, of the respondents receiving ambient intelligence technologies, and to investigate whether, and how, these technologies contributed to aspects of ageing-in-place. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study comprised of interviews and observations of technology and environmental interventions in the home environment among 18 community-dwelling older adults with a complex demand for care. These respondents had a prototype of the Unattended Autonomous Surveillance system, an example of ambient intelligence technology, installed in their homes as a means to age-in-place. The UAS-system offers a large range of functionalities, including mobility monitoring, voice response, fire detection, as well as wandering detection and prevention, which can be installed in different configurations. The respondents had various motives to use ambient intelligence technologies to support ageing-in-place. The most prominent reason was to improve the sense of safety and security, in particular, in case of fall incidents, when people were afraid not to be able to use their existing emergency response systems. The ambient intelligence technologies were initially seen as a welcome addition to strategies already adopted by the respondents, including a variety of home modifications and assistive devices. The systems tested increased the sense of safety and security and helped to postpone institutionalisation. Respondents came up with a set of specifications in terms of the operation and the design of the technology. False alarms were also regarded as a sign that the ambient intelligence technology is functioning. Moreover, a good integration of the new technologies in the provision of health care is indispensable, and installation should be done in an acceptable and unobtrusive manner. Ambient intelligence technologies can contribute to an increased safety and security at home. The technologies alone offer no all encompassing solution as home care and additional environmental interventions are still needed to support ageing-in-place. Results of the study are used to further improve the ambient intelligence technologies and their implementation. 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adherence to Diurnal Cortisol Sampling Among Mother-Child Dyads From Maltreating and Nonmaltreating Families.

PubMed

Valentino, Kristin; De Alba, Ashley; Hibel, Leah C; Fondren, Kaitlin; McDonnell, Christina G

2017-11-01

There has been increasing interest in evaluating whether interventions for child maltreatment can improve and/or prevent child physiological dysregulation via measurement of diurnal cortisol. The assessment of diurnal cortisol typically involves the home-based collection of saliva multiple times per day, bringing forth important methodological considerations regarding adherence to collection instructions. To date, there has been no data regarding adherence to home collection of diurnal cortisol among maltreating families. The current study provides data on adherence to in-home sampling of salivary cortisol among 166 maltreating and demographically similar nonmaltreating mother-child dyads using electronic monitoring devices (Medication Event Monitoring System caps). Mothers collected saliva samples on themselves and their children 3 times per day (waking, midday, and evening) for 2 consecutive days. Analyses reveal that although maltreating families were more likely to be nonadherent to the collection protocol on their initial attempt, with additional support and resampling, maltreating and nonmaltreating families were comparable on most measures of adherence. Suggestions for best practices, including the use of electronic monitoring devices, for diurnal cortisol collection with maltreating families are provided.

Smartphone-based analysis of biochemical tests for health monitoring support at home.

PubMed

Velikova, Marina; Smeets, Ruben L; van Scheltinga, Josien Terwisscha; Lucas, Peter J F; Spaanderman, Marc

2014-09-01

In the context of home-based healthcare monitoring systems, it is desirable that the results obtained from biochemical tests - tests of various body fluids such as blood and urine - are objective and automatically generated to reduce the number of man-made errors. The authors present the StripTest reader - an innovative smartphone-based interpreter of biochemical tests based on paper-based strip colour using image processing techniques. The working principles of the reader include image acquisition of the colour strip pads using the camera phone, analysing the images within the phone and comparing them with reference colours provided by the manufacturer to obtain the test result. The detection of kidney damage was used as a scenario to illustrate the application of, and test, the StripTest reader. An extensive evaluation using laboratory and human urine samples demonstrates the reader's accuracy and precision of detection, indicating the successful development of a cheap, mobile and smart reader for home-monitoring of kidney functioning, which can facilitate the early detection of health problems and a timely treatment intervention.

Regularity and predictability of human mobility in personal space.

PubMed

Austin, Daniel; Cross, Robin M; Hayes, Tamara; Kaye, Jeffrey

2014-01-01

Fundamental laws governing human mobility have many important applications such as forecasting and controlling epidemics or optimizing transportation systems. These mobility patterns, studied in the context of out of home activity during travel or social interactions with observations recorded from cell phone use or diffusion of money, suggest that in extra-personal space humans follow a high degree of temporal and spatial regularity - most often in the form of time-independent universal scaling laws. Here we show that mobility patterns of older individuals in their home also show a high degree of predictability and regularity, although in a different way than has been reported for out-of-home mobility. Studying a data set of almost 15 million observations from 19 adults spanning up to 5 years of unobtrusive longitudinal home activity monitoring, we find that in-home mobility is not well represented by a universal scaling law, but that significant structure (predictability and regularity) is uncovered when explicitly accounting for contextual data in a model of in-home mobility. These results suggest that human mobility in personal space is highly stereotyped, and that monitoring discontinuities in routine room-level mobility patterns may provide an opportunity to predict individual human health and functional status or detect adverse events and trends.

Automated health alerts from Kinect-based in-home gait measurements.

PubMed

Stone, Erik E; Skubic, Marjorie; Back, Jessica

2014-01-01

A method for automatically generating alerts to clinicians in response to changes in in-home gait parameters is investigated. Kinect-based gait measurement systems were installed in apartments in a senior living facility. The systems continuously monitored the walking speed, stride time, and stride length of apartment residents. A framework for modeling uncertainty in the residents' gait parameter estimates, which is critical for robust change detection, is developed; along with an algorithm for detecting changes that may be clinically relevant. Three retrospective case studies, of individuals who had their gait monitored for periods ranging from 12 to 29 months, are presented to illustrate use of the alert method. Evidence suggests that clinicians could be alerted to health changes at an early stage, while they are still small and interventions may be most successful. Additional potential uses are also discussed.

Enhancing patient engagement and blood pressure management for renal transplant recipients via home electronic monitoring and web-enabled collaborative care.

PubMed

Aberger, Edward W; Migliozzi, Daniel; Follick, Michael J; Malick, Tom; Ahern, David K

2014-09-01

Effective management of hypertension in chronic kidney disease and renal transplantation is a clinical priority and has societal implications in terms of preserving and optimizing the value of scarce organs. However, hypertension is optimally managed in only 37% of people with chronic kidney disease, and poor control can contribute to premature graft loss in renal transplant recipients. This article describes a telehealth system that incorporates home electronic blood pressure (BP) monitoring and uploading to a patient portal coupled with a Web-based dashboard that enables clinical pharmacist collaborative care in a renal transplant clinic. The telehealth system was developed and implemented as a quality improvement initiative in a renal transplant clinic in a large, 700-bed, urban hospital with the aim of improving BP in posttransplant patients. A convenience sample of 66 posttransplant patients was recruited by the clinical pharmacist from consecutive referrals to the Transplant Clinic. Preliminary results show statistically significant reductions in average systolic and diastolic BP of 6.0 mm Hg and 3.0 mm Hg, respectively, at 30 days after enrollment. Two case reports describe the instrumental role of home BP monitoring in the context of medication therapy management. Optimizing BP control for both pre- and post-renal transplant patients is likely to benefit society in terms of preserving scarce resources and reducing healthcare costs due to premature graft failure. Connected health systems hold great promise for supporting team-based care and improved health outcomes.

Disaggregating Hot Water Use and Predicting Hot Water Waste in Five Test Homes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Henderson, H.; Wade, J.

2014-04-01

While it is important to make the equipment (or 'plant') in a residential hot water system more efficient, the hot water distribution system also affects overall system performance and energy use. Energy wasted in heating water that is not used is estimated to be on the order of 10 to 30 percent of total domestic hot water (DHW) energy use. This field monitoring project installed temperature sensors on the distribution piping (on trunks and near fixtures) and programmed a data logger to collect data at 5 second intervals whenever there was a hot water draw. This data was used tomore » assign hot water draws to specific end uses in the home as well as to determine the portion of each hot water that was deemed useful (i.e., above a temperature threshold at the fixture). Five houses near Syracuse NY were monitored. Overall, the procedures to assign water draws to each end use were able to successfully assign about 50% of the water draws, but these assigned draws accounted for about 95% of the total hot water use in each home. The amount of hot water deemed as useful ranged from low of 75% at one house to a high of 91% in another. At three of the houses, new water heaters and distribution improvements were implemented during the monitoring period and the impact of these improvements on hot water use and delivery efficiency were evaluated.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Solar water heating systems are not new, but they have not become prevalent in most of the U.S. Most of the country is cold enough that indirect solar thermal systems are required for freeze protection, and average installed cost of these systems is $9,000 to $10,000 for typical systems on single-family homes. These costs can vary significantly in different markets and with different contractors, and federal and regional incentives can reduce these up-front costs by 50% or more. In western Massachusetts, an affordable housing developer built a community of 20 homes with a goal of approaching zero net energy consumption.more » In addition to excellent thermal envelopes and PV systems, the developer installed a solar domestic water heating system (SDHW) on each home. The Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), a research consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Building America program, commissioned some of the systems, and CARB was able to monitor detailed performance of one system for 28 months.« less

Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of sensor monitoring of gait and falls in the homes of persons with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Newland, Pamela; Wagner, Joanne M; Salter, Amber; Thomas, Florian P; Skubic, Marjorie; Rantz, Marilyn

2016-09-01

Gait parameters variability and falls are problems for persons with MS and have not been adequately captured in the home. Our goal was to explore the feasibility and acceptability of monitoring of gait and falls in the homes of persons with MS over a period of 30 days. To test the feasibility of measuring gait and falls for 30days in the home of persons with MS, spatiotemporal gait parameters stride length, stride time, and gait speed were compared. A 3D infrared depth imaging system has been developed to objectively measure gait and falls in the home environment. Participants also completed a 16-foot GaitRite electronic pathway walk to validate spatiotemporal parameters of gait (gait speed (cm/s), stride length (cm), and gait cycle time(s)) during the timed 25 foot walking test (T25FWT). We also documented barriers to feasibility of installing the in-home sensors for these participants. The results of the study suggest that the Kinect sensor may be used as an alternative device to measure gait for persons with MS, depending on the desired accuracy level. Ultimately, using in-home sensors to analyze gait parameters in real time is feasible and could lead to better analysis of gait in persons with MS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improvement of a sensor unit for wrist blood pressure monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koo, Sangjun; Kwon, Jongwon; Park, Yongman; Ayuzenara, Odgerel; Kim, Hiesik

2007-12-01

A blood pressure sensor unit for ubiquitous healthcare monitoring was newly developed. The digital wrist band-type blood pressure devices for home are popular already in the market. It is useful for checking blood pressure level at home and control of hypertension. Especially, it is very essential home device to check the health condition of blood circulation disease. Nowadays many product types are available. But the measurement of blood pressure is not accurate enough compared with the mechanical type. It needs to be upgraded to assure the precise health data enough to use in the hospital. The structure, feature and output signal of capacitor type pressure sensors are analyzed. An improved design of capacitor sensor is suggested. It shows more precise health data after use on a wrist band type health unit. They can be applied for remote u-health medical service.

Comfort in High-Performance Homes in a Hot-Humid Climate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poerschke, A.; Beach, R.

2016-01-22

"9IBACOS monitored 37 homes during the late summer and early fall of 2014 in a hot and humid climate to better understand indoor comfort conditions. These homes were constructed in the last several years by four home builders that offered a comfort and performance guarantee for the homes. The homes were located in one of four cities: Tampa, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Houston, Texas; and San Antonio, Texas. Temperature and humidity data were collected from the thermostat and each room of the house using small, battery-powered data loggers. To understand system runtime and its impact on comfort, supply air temperature alsomore » was measured on a 1-minute interval. Overall, the group of homes only exceeded a room-to-room temperature difference of 6 degrees F for 5% of the time. For 80% of the time, the rooms in each house were within 4 degrees F of each other. Additionally, the impact of system runtime on comfort is discussed. Finally, measurements made at the thermostat were used to better understand the occupant operation of each cooling system's thermostat setpoint. Builders were questioned on their perceived impact of offering a comfort and performance guarantee. Their feedback, which generally indicates a positive perception, has been summarized in the report.« less

Role of home blood pressure monitoring in hemodialysis patients.

PubMed

Agarwal, R

1999-04-01

To investigate the use of manual home blood pressure (BP) monitoring in chronic hemodialysis patients, daily home BPs in 20 patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis were compared with the 44-hour interdialytic ambulatory BPs (ABPs). Each patient recorded home BPs for 2 consecutive weeks with a digital BP monitor three times daily. Prehemodialysis and posthemodialysis BPs were recorded by an oscillometric device in the hemodialysis unit during the same 2 weeks. ABPs were recorded either after the first or second hemodialysis session of the second week during a 44-hour interdialytic period using a Spacelab 90207 ABP monitor. ABP monitoring showed that BP decreased progressively after dialysis, decreased during the first night, and rapidly reached predialysis levels by the next morning. There was no decrease in BP during the second night. There was an excellent correlation between average systolic and diastolic ABP and respective home BPs. Prehemodialysis diastolic BPs were a good reflection of diastolic ABP, but there was more variability in predialysis systolic BP. Posthemodialysis BPs did not correlate with ABP. In patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, home BPs more reliably reflected the overall BP than incenter BP readings. Predialysis, but not postdialysis, BP should be used as a screening tool to detect hypertension in the hemodialysis unit. Home BP monitoring should be used as a cost-effective means to diagnose occult hypertension in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Supervised Patient Self-Testing of Warfarin Therapy Using an Online System

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Point-of-care international normalized ratio (INR) monitoring devices simplify warfarin management by allowing selected patients to monitor their own therapy in their homes. Patient self-testing (PST) has been shown to improve the clinical outcomes of warfarin therapy compared to usual care. Objective To compare management of warfarin therapy using PST combined with online supervision by physicians via a custom system with usual warfarin management, which involved laboratory testing and physician dosing. Methods Interested patients were recruited via community pharmacies to participate in a warfarin PST training program. Participants were required to have a long-term indication for warfarin, have been taking warfarin for at least 6 months, and have Internet access in their home. The training involved two sessions covering theoretical aspects of warfarin therapy, use of the CoaguChek XS, and the study website. Following training, patients monitored their INR once weekly for up to 3 months. Patients and physicians utilized a secure website to communicate INR values, dosage recommendations, and clinical incidents. Physicians provided a 6-12 month history of INR results for comparison with study results. The percentage of time spent within the therapeutic INR range (TTR) was the primary outcome, with participants acting as their own historical controls. The percentage of INR tests in range and participant satisfaction were secondary outcomes. Results Sixteen patients completed training requirements. The mean age of participants was 69.8 (SD 10.1) years. TTR improved significantly from 66.4% to 78.4% during PST (P=.01), and the number of tests within the target range also improved significantly (from 66.0% at prior to the study to 75.9% during PST; P=.04). Patients and physicians expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the monitoring strategy and online system. Conclusions PST supported by an online system for supervision was associated with improved INR control compared to usual care in a small group of elderly patients. Further research is warranted to investigate the clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of online systems to support patients monitoring medications and chronic conditions in the home. PMID:23853350

A mobile phone-based ECG monitoring system.

PubMed

Iwamoto, Junichi; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Maki, Hiromichi; Ogawa, Hidekuni; Ninomiya, Ishio; Sada, Kouji; Hamada, Shingo; Hahn, Allen W; Caldwell, W Morton

2006-01-01

We have developed a telemedicine system for monitoring a patient's electrocardiogram during daily activities. The recording system consists of three ECG chest electrodes, a variable gain instrumentation amplifier, a low power 8-bit single-chip microcomputer, a 256 KB EEPROM and a 2.4 GHz low transmitting power mobile phone (PHS). The complete system is mounted on a single, lightweight, chest electrode array. When a heart discomfort is felt, the patient pushes the data transmission switch on the recording system. The system sends the recorded ECG waveforms of the two prior minutes and ECG waveforms of the two minutes after the switch is pressed, directly in the hospital server computer via the PHS. The server computer sends the data to the physician on call. The data is displayed on the doctor's Java mobile phone LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), so he or she can monitor the ECG regardless of their location. The developed ECG monitoring system is not only applicable to at-home patients, but should also be useful for monitoring hospital patients.

A Review of Decision Support Systems for Smart Homes in the Health Care System.

PubMed

Baumgärtel, Diana; Mielke, Corinna; Haux, Reinhold

2018-01-01

The use of decision support systems for smart homes can provide attractive solutions for challenges that have arisen in the Health Care System due to ageing of society. In order to provide an overview of current research projects in this field, a systematic literature review was performed according to the PRISMA approach. The aims of this work are to provide an overview of current research projects and to update a similar study from 2012. The literature search engines IEEE Xplore and PubMed were used. 23 papers were included. Most of the systems presented are developed for monitoring the patient regardless of their illness. For decision support, mainly rule-based approaches are used.

Fabrication of neurophysiological monitoring systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, J. D., Jr.

1974-01-01

A system designed to collect electroencephalographic, electro-oculographic, electromyographic, and head motion data is described. The portable instrumentation provides a rapid and simple means by which neurophysiological data can be obtained by the patient in his home and the taped data returned to the laboratory for analysis. The system was designed primarily for the study of sleep.

Retrofitting Air Conditioning and Duct Systems in Hot, Dry Climates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shapiro, C.; Aldrich, R.; Arena, L.

2012-07-01

This technical report describes CARB's work with Clark County Community Resources Division in Las Vegas, Nevada, to optimize procedures for upgrading cooling systems on existing homes in the area to implement health, safety, and energy improvements. Detailed monitoring of five AC systems showed that three of the five systems met or exceeded air flow rate goals.

Strategic performance management: development of a performance measurement system at the Mayo Clinic.

PubMed

Curtright, J W; Stolp-Smith, S C; Edell, E S

2000-01-01

Managing and measuring performance become exceedingly complex as healthcare institutions evolve into integrated health systems comprised of hospitals, outpatient clinics and surgery centers, nursing homes, and home health services. Leaders of integrated health systems need to develop a methodology and system that align organizational strategies with performance measurement and management. To meet this end, multiple healthcare organizations embrace the performance-indicators reporting system known as a "balanced scorecard" or a "dashboard report." This discrete set of macrolevel indicators gives senior management a fast but comprehensive glimpse of the organization's performance in meeting its quality, operational, and financial goals. The leadership of outpatient operations for Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota built on this concept by creating a performance management and measurement system that monitors and reports how well the organization achieves its performance goals. Internal stakeholders identified metrics to measure performance in each key category. Through these metrics, the organization links Mayo Clinic's vision, primary value, core principles, and day-to-day operations by monitoring key performance indicators on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis.

A system for ubiquitous health monitoring in the bedroom via a Bluetooth network and wireless LAN.

PubMed

Choi, J M; Choi, B H; Seo, J W; Sohn, R H; Ryu, M S; Yi, W; Park, K S

2004-01-01

Advances in information technology have enabled ubiquitous health monitoring at home, which is particularly useful for patients, who have to live alone. We have focused on the automatic and unobtrusive measurement of biomedical signals and activities of patients. We have constructed wireless communication networks in order to transfer data. The networks consist of Bluetooth and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). In this paper, we present the concept of a ubiquitous-Bedroom (u-Bedroom) which is a part of a ubiquitous-House (u-House) and we present our systems for ubiquitous health monitoring.

The Impact of Electronic Health Records on Risk Management of Information Systems in Australian Residential Aged Care Homes.

PubMed

Jiang, Tao; Yu, Ping; Hailey, David; Ma, Jun; Yang, Jie

2016-09-01

To obtain indications of the influence of electronic health records (EHR) in managing risks and meeting information system accreditation standard in Australian residential aged care (RAC) homes. The hypothesis to be tested is that the RAC homes using EHR have better performance in meeting information system standards in aged care accreditation than their counterparts only using paper records for information management. Content analysis of aged care accreditation reports from the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency produced between April 2011 and December 2013. Items identified included types of information systems, compliance with accreditation standards, and indicators of failure to meet an expected outcome for information systems. The Chi-square test was used to identify difference between the RAC homes that used EHR systems and those that used paper records in not meeting aged care accreditation standards. 1,031 (37.4%) of 2,754 RAC homes had adopted EHR systems. Although the proportion of homes that met all accreditation standards was significantly higher for those with EHR than for homes with paper records, only 13 RAC homes did not meet one or more expected outcomes. 12 used paper records and nine of these failed the expected outcome for information systems. The overall contribution of EHR to meeting aged care accreditation standard in Australia was very small. Risk indicators for not meeting information system standard were no access to accurate and appropriate information, failure in monitoring mechanisms, not reporting clinical incidents, insufficient recording of residents' clinical changes, not providing accurate care plans, and communication processes failure. The study has provided indications that use of EHR provides small, yet significant advantages for RAC homes in Australia in managing risks for information management and in meeting accreditation requirements. The implication of the study for introducing technology innovation in RAC in Australia is discussed.

HRV Analysis to Identify Stages of Home-based Telerehabilitation Exercise.

PubMed

Jeong, In Cheol; Finkelstein, Joseph

2014-01-01

Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has been widely used to investigate activity of autonomous nervous system. Previous studies demonstrated potential of analysis of short-term sequences of heart rate data in a time domain for continuous monitoring of levels of physiological stress however the value of HRV parameters in frequency domain for monitoring cycling exercise has not been established. The goal of this study was to assess whether HRV parameters in frequency domain differ depending on a stage of cycling exercise. We compared major HRV parameters in high, low and very low frequency ranges during rest, height of exercise, and recovery during cycling exercise. Our results indicated responsiveness of frequency-domain indices to different phases of cycling exercise program and their potential in monitoring autonomic balance and stress levels as a part of a tailored home-based telerehabilitation program.

Web-based telemonitoring and delivery of caregiver support for patients with Parkinson disease after deep brain stimulation: protocol.

PubMed

Marceglia, Sara; Rossi, Elena; Rosa, Manuela; Cogiamanian, Filippo; Rossi, Lorenzo; Bertolasi, Laura; Vogrig, Alberto; Pinciroli, Francesco; Barbieri, Sergio; Priori, Alberto

2015-03-06

The increasing number of patients, the high costs of management, and the chronic progress of the disease that prevents patients from performing even simple daily activities make Parkinson disease (PD) a complex pathology with a high impact on society. In particular, patients implanted with deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes face a highly fragile stabilization period, requiring specific support at home. However, DBS patients are followed usually by untrained personnel (caregivers or family), without specific care pathways and supporting systems. This projects aims to (1) create a reference consensus guideline and a shared requirements set for the homecare and monitoring of DBS patients, (2) define a set of biomarkers that provides alarms to caregivers for continuous home monitoring, and (3) implement an information system architecture allowing communication between health care professionals and caregivers and improving the quality of care for DBS patients. The definitions of the consensus care pathway and of caregiver needs will be obtained by analyzing the current practices for patient follow-up through focus groups and structured interviews involving health care professionals, patients, and caregivers. The results of this analysis will be represented in a formal graphical model of the process of DBS patient care at home. To define the neurophysiological biomarkers to be used to raise alarms during the monitoring process, neurosignals will be acquired from DBS electrodes through a new experimental system that records while DBS is turned ON and transmits signals by radiofrequency. Motor, cognitive, and behavioral protocols will be used to study possible feedback/alarms to be provided by the system. Finally, a set of mobile apps to support the caregiver at home in managing and monitoring the patient will be developed and tested in the community of caregivers that participated in the focus groups. The set of developed apps will be connected to the already existing WebBioBank Web-based platform allowing health care professionals to manage patient electronic health records and neurophysiological signals. New modules in the WebBioBank platform will be implemented to allow integration and data exchange with mobile health apps. The results of this project will provide a novel approach to long-term evaluation of patients with chronic, severe conditions in the homecare environment, based on caregiver empowerment and tailored applications developed according to consensus care pathways established by clinicians. The creation of a direct communication channel between health care professionals and caregivers can benefit large communities of patients and would represent a scalable experience in integrating data and information coming from a clinical setting to those in home monitoring.

Web-Based Telemonitoring and Delivery of Caregiver Support for Patients With Parkinson Disease After Deep Brain Stimulation: Protocol

PubMed Central

Rossi, Elena; Rosa, Manuela; Cogiamanian, Filippo; Rossi, Lorenzo; Bertolasi, Laura; Vogrig, Alberto; Pinciroli, Francesco; Barbieri, Sergio; Priori, Alberto

2015-01-01

Background The increasing number of patients, the high costs of management, and the chronic progress of the disease that prevents patients from performing even simple daily activities make Parkinson disease (PD) a complex pathology with a high impact on society. In particular, patients implanted with deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes face a highly fragile stabilization period, requiring specific support at home. However, DBS patients are followed usually by untrained personnel (caregivers or family), without specific care pathways and supporting systems. Objective This projects aims to (1) create a reference consensus guideline and a shared requirements set for the homecare and monitoring of DBS patients, (2) define a set of biomarkers that provides alarms to caregivers for continuous home monitoring, and (3) implement an information system architecture allowing communication between health care professionals and caregivers and improving the quality of care for DBS patients. Methods The definitions of the consensus care pathway and of caregiver needs will be obtained by analyzing the current practices for patient follow-up through focus groups and structured interviews involving health care professionals, patients, and caregivers. The results of this analysis will be represented in a formal graphical model of the process of DBS patient care at home. To define the neurophysiological biomarkers to be used to raise alarms during the monitoring process, neurosignals will be acquired from DBS electrodes through a new experimental system that records while DBS is turned ON and transmits signals by radiofrequency. Motor, cognitive, and behavioral protocols will be used to study possible feedback/alarms to be provided by the system. Finally, a set of mobile apps to support the caregiver at home in managing and monitoring the patient will be developed and tested in the community of caregivers that participated in the focus groups. The set of developed apps will be connected to the already existing WebBioBank Web-based platform allowing health care professionals to manage patient electronic health records and neurophysiological signals. New modules in the WebBioBank platform will be implemented to allow integration and data exchange with mobile health apps. Results The results of this project will provide a novel approach to long-term evaluation of patients with chronic, severe conditions in the homecare environment, based on caregiver empowerment and tailored applications developed according to consensus care pathways established by clinicians. Conclusions The creation of a direct communication channel between health care professionals and caregivers can benefit large communities of patients and would represent a scalable experience in integrating data and information coming from a clinical setting to those in home monitoring. PMID:25803512

Self-monitoring has potential for home exercise programmes in patients with haemophilia.

PubMed

Goto, M; Takedani, H; Haga, N; Kubota, M; Ishiyama, M; Ito, S; Nitta, O

2014-03-01

Haemophiliacs who have had to keep a physically inactive lifestyle due to bleeding during childhood are likely to have little motivation for exercise. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effectiveness of the self-monitoring of home exercise for haemophiliacs. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with intervention over 8 weeks at four hospitals in Japan. Subjects included 32 male outpatients aged 26-64 years without an inhibitor who were randomly allocated to a self-monitoring group and a control group. Individual exercise guidance with physical activity for improvement of their knee functions was given to both groups. The self-monitoring materials included an activity monitor and a feedback system so that the self-monitoring group could send feedback via the Internet and cellular phone. The self-monitoring was performed by checking exercise adherence and physical activity levels, bleeding history and injection of a coagulation factor. Both groups showed significant improvements in exercise adherence (P < 0.001) and physical function such as the strength of knee extension (P < 0.001), range of knee extension (P < 0.001), range of ankle dorsiflexion (P < 0.01), a modified Functional Reach (P < 0.05) and 10 metre gait time (P < 0.01). In particular, improvements in exercise adherence (P < 0.05), self-efficacy (P < 0.05), and strength of knee extension (P < 0.05) were significant in the self-monitoring group compared with those in the control group. No increase in bleeding frequency and pain scale was noted. The self-monitoring of home exercise for haemophilic patients is useful for the improvement of exercise adherence, self-efficacy and knee extension strength. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Developing Control System of Electrical Devices with Operational Expense Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sendari, Siti; Wahyu Herwanto, Heru; Rahmawati, Yuni; Mukti Putranto, Dendi; Fitri, Shofiana

2017-04-01

The purpose of this research is to develop a system that can monitor and record home electrical device’s electricity usage. This system has an ability to control electrical devices in distance and predict the operational expense. The system was developed using micro-controllers and WiFi modules connected to PC server. The communication between modules is arranged by server via WiFi. Beside of reading home electrical devices electricity usage, the unique point of the proposed-system is the ability of micro-controllers to send electricity data to server for recording the usage of electrical devices. The testing of this research was done by Black-box method to test the functionality of system. Testing system run well with 0% error.

PubMed

2008-11-13

Digital age: 'finger recognition' technology has been introduced into care homes to monitor how many hours nurses are working at any one time. As nurses at the care homes start and finish their shifts, they place their fingers into a wall-mounted scanner. This identifies tiny points on the finger and stores information about them so that each finger can be recognised when placed in the scanner again. By this method, the scanner can record exactly how long nurses have worked. Helen McArdle Care has introduced the 'biometric attendance system' into its five care homes. Managers argue that it will 'prevent overpayment for time not worked', and ensure that there is a correct skill mix in place. RCN senior employment relations adviser Karen Didovic said the system could be good if it ensures that nurses are paid for the overtime they work, but added: 'I do not think it should be the primary system for measuring staffing levels on the ward.' Pictured is healthcare assistant Natalie Allcock clocking in at Needham Court nursing home, in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear.

Pilot Test of a New Personal Health System Integrating Environmental and Wearable Sensors for Telemonitoring and Care of Elderly People at Home (SMARTA Project).

PubMed

Pigini, Lucia; Bovi, Gabriele; Panzarino, Claudia; Gower, Valerio; Ferratini, Maurizio; Andreoni, Giuseppe; Sassi, Roberto; Rivolta, Massimo W; Ferrarin, Maurizio

2017-01-01

The increase in life expectancy is accompanied by a growing number of elderly subjects affected by chronic comorbidities, a health issue which also implies important socioeconomic consequences. Shifting from hospital or community dwelling care towards a home personalized healthcare paradigm would promote active aging with a better quality of life, along with a reduction in healthcare-related costs. The aim of the SMARTA project was to develop and test an innovative personal health system integrating standard sensors as well as innovative wearable and environmental sensors to allow home telemonitoring of vital parameters and detection of anomalies in daily activities, thus supporting active aging through remote healthcare. A first phase of the project consisted in the definition of the health and environmental parameters to be monitored (electrocardiography and actigraphy, blood pressure and oxygen saturation, weight, ear temperature, glycemia, home interaction monitoring - water tap, refrigerator, and dishwasher), the feedbacks for the clinicians, and the reminders for the patients. It was followed by a technical feasibility analysis leading to an iterative process of prototype development, sensor integration, and testing. Once the prototype had reached an advanced stage of development, a group of 32 volunteers - including 15 healthy adult subjects, 13 elderly people with cardiac diseases, and 4 clinical operators - was recruited to test the system in a real home setting, in order to evaluate both technical reliability and user perception of the system in terms of effectiveness, usability, acceptance, and attractiveness. The testing in a real home setting showed a good perception of the SMARTA system and its functionalities both by the patients and by the clinicians, who appreciated the user interface and the clinical governance system. The moderate system reliability of 65-70% evidenced some technical issues, mainly related to sensor integration, while the patient's user interface showed excellent reliability (100%). Both elderly people and clinical operators considered the SMARTA system a promising and attractive tool for improving patients' healthcare while reducing related costs and preserving quality of life. However, the moderate reliability of the system should prompt further technical developments in terms of sensor integration and usability of the clinical operator's user interface. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

3.5G based mobile remote monitoring system.

PubMed

Bajracharya, Aman; Gale, Timothy J; Stack, Clive R; Turner, Paul

2008-01-01

Low bandwidth has long been a reason for the unsuitability of wireless internet in telemedicine. However with the advent of extended third generation wireless as an economically accessible high speed network, more opportunities are being created in this area of telemedicine. This paper explores the opportunity created by the latest wireless broadband technology for remote monitoring of patients in the home.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The purpose of this project by Building Science Corporation was to evaluate the humidity control performance of new single family high performance homes, and compare the interior conditions and mechanical systems operation between two distinct groups of houses: homes with a supplemental dehumidifier installed in addition to HVAC system, and homes without any supplemental dehumidification. The subjects of the study were 10 single-family new construction homes in New Orleans, LA. Data logging equipment was installed at each home in 2012, and interior conditions and various end-use loads were monitored for one year. In terms of averages, the homes with dehumidifiersmore » are limiting elevated levels of humidity in the living space; however, there was significant variation in humidity control between individual houses. An analysis of the equipment operation did not show a clear correlation between energy use and humidity levels. In general, no single explanatory variable appears to provide a consistent understanding of the humidity control in each house. Indoor humidity is likely due to all of the factors we have examined, and the specifics of how they are used by each occupant.« less

Use of health information technology in home health and hospice agencies: United States, 2007.

PubMed

Resnick, Helaine E; Alwan, Majd

2010-01-01

This report provides updated estimates on use of electronic medical records (EMRs) in US home health and hospice (HHH) agencies, describes utilization of EMR functionalities, and presents novel data on telemedicine and point of care documentation (PoCD) in this setting. Nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of US HHH agencies conducted in 2007. Data on agency characteristics, current use of EMR systems as well as use of telemedicine and PoCD were collected. In 2007, 43% of US HHH agencies reported use of an EMR system. Patient demographics (40%) and clinical notes (34%) were the most commonly used EMR functions among US HHH agencies. Only 20% of agencies with EMR systems had health information sharing functionality and about half of them used it. Telemedicine was used by 21% of all HHH agencies, with most (87%) of these offering home health services. Among home health agencies using telemedicine, greater than 90% used telephone monitoring and about two-thirds used non-video monitoring. Nearly 29% of HHH agencies reported using electronic PoCD systems, most often for Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) data capture (79%). Relative to for-profit HHH agencies, non-profit agencies used considerably more EMR (70% vs 28%, p<0.001) and PoCD (63% vs 9%, p<0.001). Between 2000 and 2007, there was a 33% increase in use of EMR among HHH agencies in the US. In 2007, use of EMR and PoCD technologies in non-profit agencies was significantly higher than for-profit ones. Finally, HHH agencies generally tended to use available EMR functionalities, including health information sharing.

Flexible technologies and smart clothing for citizen medicine, home healthcare, and disease prevention.

PubMed

Axisa, Fabrice; Schmitt, Pierre Michael; Gehin, Claudine; Delhomme, Georges; McAdams, Eric; Dittmar, André

2005-09-01

Improvement of the quality and efficiency of healthcare in medicine, both at home and in hospital, is becoming more and more important for patients and society at large. As many technologies (micro technologies, telecommunication, low-power design, new textiles, and flexible sensors) are now available, new user-friendly devices can be developed to enhance the comfort and security of the patient. As clothes and textiles are in direct contact with about 90% of the skin surface, smart sensors and smart clothes with noninvasive sensors are an attractive solution for home-based and ambulatory health monitoring. Moreover, wearable devices or smart homes with exosensors are also potential solutions. All these systems can provide a safe and comfortable environment for home healthcare, illness prevention, and citizen medicine.

Measurement data preprocessing in a radar-based system for monitoring of human movements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morawski, Roman Z.; Miȩkina, Andrzej; Bajurko, Paweł R.

2015-02-01

The importance of research on new technologies that could be employed in care services for elderly people is highlighted. The need to examine the applicability of various sensor systems for non-invasive monitoring of the movements and vital bodily functions, such as heart beat or breathing rhythm, of elderly persons in their home environment is justified. An extensive overview of the literature concerning existing monitoring techniques is provided. A technological potential behind radar sensors is indicated. A new class of algorithms for preprocessing of measurement data from impulse radar sensors, when applied for elderly people monitoring, is proposed. Preliminary results of numerical experiments performed on those algorithms are demonstrated.

Analysis of commode grab bar usage for the monitoring of older adults in the smart home environment.

PubMed

Arcelus, Amaya; Holtzman, Megan; Goubran, Rafik; Sveistrup, Heidi; Guitard, Paulette; Knoefel, Frank

2009-01-01

The occurrence of falls inside the home is a common yet potentially hazardous issue for adults as they age. Even with the installation of physical aids such as grab bars, weight transfers on and off a toilet or bathtub can become increasingly difficult as a person's level of physical mobility and sense of balance deteriorate. Detecting this deterioration becomes an important goal in fall prevention within a smart home. This paper develops an unobtrusive method of analyzing the usage of toilet grab bars using pressure sensors embedded into the arm rests of a commode. Clinical parameters are successfully extracted automatically from a series of stand-to-sit (StSi) and sit-to-stand (SiSt) transfers performed by a trial group of young and older adults. A preliminary comparison of the parameters indicates differences between the two groups, and aligns well with published characteristics obtained using accelerometers worn on the body. The unobtrusive nature of this method provides a useful tool to be incorporated into a system of continuous monitoring of older adults within the smart home environment.

Can the Accuracy of Home Blood Glucose Monitors be affected by the Received Signal Strength of 900 MHz GSM Mobile Phones?

PubMed Central

Eslami, J.; Ghafaripour, F.; Mortazavi, S.A.R.; Mortazavi, S.M.J.; Shojaei-fard, M.B.

2015-01-01

Background People who use home blood glucose monitors may use their mobile phones in the close vicinity of medical devices. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of the signal strength of 900 MHz GSM mobile phones on the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. Methods Sixty non-diabetic volunteer individuals aged 21 - 28 years participated in this study. Blood samples were analyzed for glucose level by using a common blood glucose monitoring system. Each blood sample was analyzed twice, within ten minutes in presence and absence of electromagnetic fields generated by a common GSM mobile phone during ringing. Blood samples were divided into 3 groups of 20 samples each. Group 1: exposure to mobile phone radiation with weak signal strength. Group2: exposure to mobile phone radiation with strong signal strength. Group3: exposure to a switched–on mobile phone with no signal strength. Results The magnitude of the changes in the first, second and third group between glucose levels of two measurements (׀ΔC׀) were 7.4±3.9 mg/dl, 10.2±4.5 mg/dl, 8.7±8.4 mg/dl respectively. The difference in the magnitude of the changes between the 1st and the 3rd groups was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the difference in the magnitude of the changes between the 2nd and the 3rd groups was not statistically significant. Conclusion Findings of this study showed that the signal strength of 900 MHz GSM mobile phones cannot play a significant role in changing the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. PMID:26688798

Can the Accuracy of Home Blood Glucose Monitors be affected by the Received Signal Strength of 900 MHz GSM Mobile Phones?

PubMed

Eslami, J; Ghafaripour, F; Mortazavi, S A R; Mortazavi, S M J; Shojaei-Fard, M B

2015-12-01

People who use home blood glucose monitors may use their mobile phones in the close vicinity of medical devices. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of the signal strength of 900 MHz GSM mobile phones on the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. Sixty non-diabetic volunteer individuals aged 21 - 28 years participated in this study. Blood samples were analyzed for glucose level by using a common blood glucose monitoring system. Each blood sample was analyzed twice, within ten minutes in presence and absence of electromagnetic fields generated by a common GSM mobile phone during ringing. Blood samples were divided into 3 groups of 20 samples each. Group 1: exposure to mobile phone radiation with weak signal strength. Group2: exposure to mobile phone radiation with strong signal strength. Group3: exposure to a switched-on mobile phone with no signal strength. The magnitude of the changes in the first, second and third group between glucose levels of two measurements (׀ΔC׀) were 7.4±3.9 mg/dl, 10.2±4.5 mg/dl, 8.7±8.4 mg/dl respectively. The difference in the magnitude of the changes between the 1st and the 3rd groups was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the difference in the magnitude of the changes between the 2nd and the 3rd groups was not statistically significant. Findings of this study showed that the signal strength of 900 MHz GSM mobile phones cannot play a significant role in changing the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors.

A multiagent system enhancing home-care health services for chronic disease management.

PubMed

Koutkias, Vassilis G; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Maglaveras, Nicos

2005-12-01

In this paper, a multiagent system (MAS) is presented, aiming to enhance monitoring, surveillance, and educational services of a generic medical contact center (MCC) for chronic disease management. In such a home-care scenario, a persistent need arises for efficiently monitoring the patient contacts and the MCC's functionality, in order to effectively manage and interpret the large volume of medical data collected during the patient sessions with the system, and to assess the use of MCC resources. Software agents were adopted to provide the means to accomplish such real-time information-processing tasks, due to their autonomous, reactive and/or proactive nature, and their effectiveness in dynamic environments by incorporating coordination strategies. Specifically, the objective of the MAS is to monitor the MCC environment, detect important cases, and inform the healthcare and administrative personnel via alert messages, notifications, recommendations, and reports, prompting them for actions. The main aim of this paper is to present the overall design and implementation of a proposed MAS, emphasizing its functional model and architecture, as well as on the agent interactions and the knowledge-sharing mechanism incorporated, in the context of a generic MCC.

An In-home Advanced Robotic System to Manage Elderly Home-care Patients' Medications: A Pilot Safety and Usability Study.

PubMed

Rantanen, Pekka; Parkkari, Timo; Leikola, Saija; Airaksinen, Marja; Lyles, Alan

2017-05-01

We examined the safety profile and usability of an integrated advanced robotic device and telecare system to promote medication adherence for elderly home-care patients. There were two phases. Phase I aimed to verify under controlled conditions in a single nursing home (n = 17 patients) that no robotic malfunctions would hinder the device's safe use. Phase II involved home-care patients from 3 sites (n = 27) who were on long-term medication. On-time dispensing and missed doses were recorded by the robotic system. Patients' and nurses' experiences were assessed with structured interviews. The 17 nursing home patients had 457 total days using the device (Phase I; mean, 26.9 per patient). On-time sachet retrieval occurred with 97.7% of the alerts, and no medication doses were missed. At baseline, Phase II home-dwelling patients reported difficulty remembering to take their medicines (23%), and 18% missed at least 2 doses per week. Most Phase II patients (78%) lived alone. The device delivered and patients retrieved medicine sachets for 99% of the alerts. All patients and 96% of nurses reported the device was easy to use. This trial demonstrated the safety profile and usability of an in-home advanced robotic device and telecare system and its acceptability to patients and nurses. It supports individualized patient dosing schedules, patient-provider communications, and on-time, in-home medication delivery to promote adherence. Real time dose-by-dose monitoring and communication with providers if a dose is missed provide oversight generally not seen in home care. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and Implementation of a Smart Home System Using Multisensor Data Fusion Technology.

PubMed

Hsu, Yu-Liang; Chou, Po-Huan; Chang, Hsing-Cheng; Lin, Shyan-Lung; Yang, Shih-Chin; Su, Heng-Yi; Chang, Chih-Chien; Cheng, Yuan-Sheng; Kuo, Yu-Chen

2017-07-15

This paper aims to develop a multisensor data fusion technology-based smart home system by integrating wearable intelligent technology, artificial intelligence, and sensor fusion technology. We have developed the following three systems to create an intelligent smart home environment: (1) a wearable motion sensing device to be placed on residents' wrists and its corresponding 3D gesture recognition algorithm to implement a convenient automated household appliance control system; (2) a wearable motion sensing device mounted on a resident's feet and its indoor positioning algorithm to realize an effective indoor pedestrian navigation system for smart energy management; (3) a multisensor circuit module and an intelligent fire detection and alarm algorithm to realize a home safety and fire detection system. In addition, an intelligent monitoring interface is developed to provide in real-time information about the smart home system, such as environmental temperatures, CO concentrations, communicative environmental alarms, household appliance status, human motion signals, and the results of gesture recognition and indoor positioning. Furthermore, an experimental testbed for validating the effectiveness and feasibility of the smart home system was built and verified experimentally. The results showed that the 3D gesture recognition algorithm could achieve recognition rates for automated household appliance control of 92.0%, 94.8%, 95.3%, and 87.7% by the 2-fold cross-validation, 5-fold cross-validation, 10-fold cross-validation, and leave-one-subject-out cross-validation strategies. For indoor positioning and smart energy management, the distance accuracy and positioning accuracy were around 0.22% and 3.36% of the total traveled distance in the indoor environment. For home safety and fire detection, the classification rate achieved 98.81% accuracy for determining the conditions of the indoor living environment.

Design and Implementation of a Smart Home System Using Multisensor Data Fusion Technology

PubMed Central

Chou, Po-Huan; Chang, Hsing-Cheng; Lin, Shyan-Lung; Yang, Shih-Chin; Su, Heng-Yi; Chang, Chih-Chien; Cheng, Yuan-Sheng; Kuo, Yu-Chen

2017-01-01

This paper aims to develop a multisensor data fusion technology-based smart home system by integrating wearable intelligent technology, artificial intelligence, and sensor fusion technology. We have developed the following three systems to create an intelligent smart home environment: (1) a wearable motion sensing device to be placed on residents’ wrists and its corresponding 3D gesture recognition algorithm to implement a convenient automated household appliance control system; (2) a wearable motion sensing device mounted on a resident’s feet and its indoor positioning algorithm to realize an effective indoor pedestrian navigation system for smart energy management; (3) a multisensor circuit module and an intelligent fire detection and alarm algorithm to realize a home safety and fire detection system. In addition, an intelligent monitoring interface is developed to provide in real-time information about the smart home system, such as environmental temperatures, CO concentrations, communicative environmental alarms, household appliance status, human motion signals, and the results of gesture recognition and indoor positioning. Furthermore, an experimental testbed for validating the effectiveness and feasibility of the smart home system was built and verified experimentally. The results showed that the 3D gesture recognition algorithm could achieve recognition rates for automated household appliance control of 92.0%, 94.8%, 95.3%, and 87.7% by the 2-fold cross-validation, 5-fold cross-validation, 10-fold cross-validation, and leave-one-subject-out cross-validation strategies. For indoor positioning and smart energy management, the distance accuracy and positioning accuracy were around 0.22% and 3.36% of the total traveled distance in the indoor environment. For home safety and fire detection, the classification rate achieved 98.81% accuracy for determining the conditions of the indoor living environment. PMID:28714884

A novel dynamic sensing of wearable digital textile sensor with body motion analysis.

PubMed

Yang, Chang-Ming; Lin, Zhan-Sheng; Hu, Chang-Lin; Chen, Yu-Shih; Ke, Ling-Yi; Chen, Yin-Rui

2010-01-01

This work proposes an innovative textile sensor system to monitor dynamic body movement and human posture by attaching wearable digital sensors to analyze body motion. The proposed system can display and analyze signals when individuals are walking, running, veering around, walking up and down stairs, as well as falling down with a wearable monitoring system, which reacts to the coordination between the body and feet. Several digital sensor designs are embedded in clothing and wear apparel. Any pressure point can determine which activity is underway. Importantly, wearable digital sensors and a wearable monitoring system allow adaptive, real-time postures, real time velocity, acceleration, non-invasive, transmission healthcare, and point of care (POC) for home and non-clinical environments.

An investigation of the effects of a nonprofit agency's investigations on quality of care in nursing homes.

PubMed

Lorentz, Madeline; Finnegan, Brittany

2013-01-01

This study examined whether an agency's investigation of complaints in 40 nursing homes is positively correlated with the quality of nursing home care. A quantitative methodology design using quantitative and qualitative data was used to assess the relationship between Agency X's investigation of consumers' nursing home complaints and the quality of nursing home care. Results showed fewer violations after the agency's interventions, indicating improvement in the nursing care. Analysis showed on average 0.14 fewer violations. This decrease is statistically significant (p = .015), indicating that this agency's intervention improved nursing home care. Additional studies are needed to further explore the quality of care given in nursing homes. Nurses may propose to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish a new innovative system for ensuring high quality nursing home care by requiring the establishment of outside agencies, such as Agency X, to monitor care in addition to the annual surveys conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Feeding Experimentation Device (FED): A flexible open-source device for measuring feeding behavior.

PubMed

Nguyen, Katrina P; O'Neal, Timothy J; Bolonduro, Olurotimi A; White, Elecia; Kravitz, Alexxai V

2016-07-15

Measuring food intake in rodents is a conceptually simple yet labor-intensive and temporally-imprecise task. Most commonly, food is weighed manually, with an interval of hours or days between measurements. Commercial feeding monitors are excellent, but are costly and require specialized caging and equipment. We have developed the Feeding Experimentation Device (FED): a low-cost, open-source, home cage-compatible feeding system. FED utilizes an Arduino microcontroller and open-source software and hardware. FED dispenses a single food pellet into a food well where it is monitored by an infrared beam. When the mouse removes the pellet, FED logs the timestamp to a secure digital (SD) card and dispenses a new pellet into the well. Post-hoc analyses of pellet retrieval timestamps reveal high-resolution details about feeding behavior. FED is capable of accurately measuring food intake, identifying discrete trends during light and dark-cycle feeding. Additionally, we show the utility of FED for measuring increases in feeding resulting from optogenetic stimulation of agouti-related peptide neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. With a cost of ∼$350 per device, FED is >10× cheaper than commercially available feeding systems. FED is also self-contained, battery powered, and designed to be placed in standard colony rack cages, allowing for monitoring of true home cage feeding behavior. Moreover, FED is highly adaptable and can be synchronized with emerging techniques in neuroscience, such as optogenetics, as we demonstrate here. FED allows for accurate, precise monitoring of feeding behavior in a home cage setting. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Single-Camera-Based Method for Step Length Symmetry Measurement in Unconstrained Elderly Home Monitoring.

PubMed

Cai, Xi; Han, Guang; Song, Xin; Wang, Jinkuan

2017-11-01

single-camera-based gait monitoring is unobtrusive, inexpensive, and easy-to-use to monitor daily gait of seniors in their homes. However, most studies require subjects to walk perpendicularly to camera's optical axis or along some specified routes, which limits its application in elderly home monitoring. To build unconstrained monitoring environments, we propose a method to measure step length symmetry ratio (a useful gait parameter representing gait symmetry without significant relationship with age) from unconstrained straight walking using a single camera, without strict restrictions on walking directions or routes. according to projective geometry theory, we first develop a calculation formula of step length ratio for the case of unconstrained straight-line walking. Then, to adapt to general cases, we propose to modify noncollinear footprints, and accordingly provide general procedure for step length ratio extraction from unconstrained straight walking. Our method achieves a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 1.9547% for 15 subjects' normal and abnormal side-view gaits, and also obtains satisfactory MAPEs for non-side-view gaits (2.4026% for 45°-view gaits and 3.9721% for 30°-view gaits). The performance is much better than a well-established monocular gait measurement system suitable only for side-view gaits with a MAPE of 3.5538%. Independently of walking directions, our method can accurately estimate step length ratios from unconstrained straight walking. This demonstrates our method is applicable for elders' daily gait monitoring to provide valuable information for elderly health care, such as abnormal gait recognition, fall risk assessment, etc. single-camera-based gait monitoring is unobtrusive, inexpensive, and easy-to-use to monitor daily gait of seniors in their homes. However, most studies require subjects to walk perpendicularly to camera's optical axis or along some specified routes, which limits its application in elderly home monitoring. To build unconstrained monitoring environments, we propose a method to measure step length symmetry ratio (a useful gait parameter representing gait symmetry without significant relationship with age) from unconstrained straight walking using a single camera, without strict restrictions on walking directions or routes. according to projective geometry theory, we first develop a calculation formula of step length ratio for the case of unconstrained straight-line walking. Then, to adapt to general cases, we propose to modify noncollinear footprints, and accordingly provide general procedure for step length ratio extraction from unconstrained straight walking. Our method achieves a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 1.9547% for 15 subjects' normal and abnormal side-view gaits, and also obtains satisfactory MAPEs for non-side-view gaits (2.4026% for 45°-view gaits and 3.9721% for 30°-view gaits). The performance is much better than a well-established monocular gait measurement system suitable only for side-view gaits with a MAPE of 3.5538%. Independently of walking directions, our method can accurately estimate step length ratios from unconstrained straight walking. This demonstrates our method is applicable for elders' daily gait monitoring to provide valuable information for elderly health care, such as abnormal gait recognition, fall risk assessment, etc.

Deriving a GPS Monitoring Time Recommendation for Physical Activity Studies of Adults.

PubMed

Holliday, Katelyn M; Howard, Annie Green; Emch, Michael; Rodríguez, Daniel A; Rosamond, Wayne D; Evenson, Kelly R

2017-05-01

Determining locations of physical activity (PA) is important for surveillance and intervention development, yet recommendations for using location recording tools like global positioning system (GPS) units are lacking. Specifically, no recommendation exists for the number of days study participants should wear a GPS to reliably estimate PA time spent in locations. This study used data from participants (N = 224, age = 18-85 yr) in five states who concurrently wore an ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer and a Qstarz BT-Q1000X GPS for three consecutive weeks to construct monitoring day recommendations through variance partitioning methods. PA bouts ≥10 min were constructed from accelerometer counts, and the location of GPS points was determined using a hand-coding protocol. Monitoring day recommendations varied by the type of location (e.g., participant homes vs parks) and the intensity of PA bouts considered (low and medium cut point moderate to vigorous PA [MVPA] bouts or high cut point vigorous PA [VPA] bouts). In general, minutes of all PA intensities spent in a given location could be measured with ≥80% reliability using 1-3 d of GPS monitoring for fitness facilities, schools, and footpaths. MVPA bout minutes in parks and roads required longer monitoring periods of 5-12 d. PA in homes and commercial areas required >19 d of monitoring. Twelve days of monitoring was found to reliably estimate minutes in both low and medium threshold MVPA as well as VPA bouts for many important built environment locations that can be targeted to increase PA at the population level. Minutes of PA in the home environment and commercial locations may be best assessed through other means given the lengthy estimated monitoring time required.

Informed Decision Making for In-Home Use of Motion Sensor-Based Monitoring Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruce, Courtenay R.

2012-01-01

Motion sensor-based monitoring technologies are designed to maintain independence and safety of older individuals living alone. These technologies use motion sensors that are placed throughout older individuals' homes in order to derive information about eating, sleeping, and leaving/returning home habits. Deviations from normal behavioral…

A Vision-Based System for Intelligent Monitoring: Human Behaviour Analysis and Privacy by Context

PubMed Central

Chaaraoui, Alexandros Andre; Padilla-López, José Ramón; Ferrández-Pastor, Francisco Javier; Nieto-Hidalgo, Mario; Flórez-Revuelta, Francisco

2014-01-01

Due to progress and demographic change, society is facing a crucial challenge related to increased life expectancy and a higher number of people in situations of dependency. As a consequence, there exists a significant demand for support systems for personal autonomy. This article outlines the vision@home project, whose goal is to extend independent living at home for elderly and impaired people, providing care and safety services by means of vision-based monitoring. Different kinds of ambient-assisted living services are supported, from the detection of home accidents, to telecare services. In this contribution, the specification of the system is presented, and novel contributions are made regarding human behaviour analysis and privacy protection. By means of a multi-view setup of cameras, people's behaviour is recognised based on human action recognition. For this purpose, a weighted feature fusion scheme is proposed to learn from multiple views. In order to protect the right to privacy of the inhabitants when a remote connection occurs, a privacy-by-context method is proposed. The experimental results of the behaviour recognition method show an outstanding performance, as well as support for multi-view scenarios and real-time execution, which are required in order to provide the proposed services. PMID:24854209

SmartFABER: Recognizing fine-grained abnormal behaviors for early detection of mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Riboni, Daniele; Bettini, Claudio; Civitarese, Gabriele; Janjua, Zaffar Haider; Helaoui, Rim

2016-02-01

In an ageing world population more citizens are at risk of cognitive impairment, with negative consequences on their ability of independent living, quality of life and sustainability of healthcare systems. Cognitive neuroscience researchers have identified behavioral anomalies that are significant indicators of cognitive decline. A general goal is the design of innovative methods and tools for continuously monitoring the functional abilities of the seniors at risk and reporting the behavioral anomalies to the clinicians. SmartFABER is a pervasive system targeting this objective. A non-intrusive sensor network continuously acquires data about the interaction of the senior with the home environment during daily activities. A novel hybrid statistical and knowledge-based technique is used to analyses this data and detect the behavioral anomalies, whose history is presented through a dashboard to the clinicians. Differently from related works, SmartFABER can detect abnormal behaviors at a fine-grained level. We have fully implemented the system and evaluated it using real datasets, partly generated by performing activities in a smart home laboratory, and partly acquired during several months of monitoring of the instrumented home of a senior diagnosed with MCI. Experimental results, including comparisons with other activity recognition techniques, show the effectiveness of SmartFABER in terms of recognition rates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A vision-based system for intelligent monitoring: human behaviour analysis and privacy by context.

PubMed

Chaaraoui, Alexandros Andre; Padilla-López, José Ramón; Ferrández-Pastor, Francisco Javier; Nieto-Hidalgo, Mario; Flórez-Revuelta, Francisco

2014-05-20

Due to progress and demographic change, society is facing a crucial challenge related to increased life expectancy and a higher number of people in situations of dependency. As a consequence, there exists a significant demand for support systems for personal autonomy. This article outlines the vision@home project, whose goal is to extend independent living at home for elderly and impaired people, providing care and safety services by means of vision-based monitoring. Different kinds of ambient-assisted living services are supported, from the detection of home accidents, to telecare services. In this contribution, the specification of the system is presented, and novel contributions are made regarding human behaviour analysis and privacy protection. By means of a multi-view setup of cameras, people's behaviour is recognised based on human action recognition. For this purpose, a weighted feature fusion scheme is proposed to learn from multiple views. In order to protect the right to privacy of the inhabitants when a remote connection occurs, a privacy-by-context method is proposed. The experimental results of the behaviour recognition method show an outstanding performance, as well as support for multi-view scenarios and real-time execution, which are required in order to provide the proposed services.

The challenges facing wearable sensor systems.

PubMed

McAdams, Eric; Gehin, Claudine; Massot, Bertrand; McLaughlin, James

2012-01-01

It has been pointed out that, in spite of significant national and international funding programmes, there is a dearth of successfully commercialised wearable monitoring systems. Although problems such as financial reimbursement, device interoperability and the present lack of the required connected healthcare infrastructure are major hurdles to the provision of remote clinical monitoring of home-based patients, the "Mount Everest" of monitoring applications, why are wearable systems not already commercialised and used in less demanding applications? The numerous wearable systems which appear on the Web and even in the literature are, for the most part, basic prototypes unsuited to the demands of real-life applications. SMEs which do seek to commercialise clinically promising systems are unfortunately faced with many challenges and few as yet have survived long enough to successfully commercialise their innovations.

The MOST - Monitor for Oxygenation of Surface and Tissue.

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-10-01

CAT Reduce need for ICU, low risk groups Central nursing station Office procedures: Dentistry , Endoscopy Monitoring spinal or epidural narcotics Home...obtainable by using laser Doppler methods (Wickramasinghe et al., 1994; Liepsch et al., 1993; Mendelson, Ochs, 1988). While many parameters beyond oxygenation...blood flow include laser Doppler flowmetry sys- tems which are currently commercially available. These systems measure the velocity of blood particles

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2018 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update and CY 2019 Case-Mix Adjustment Methodology Refinements; Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model; and Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements. Final rule.

PubMed

2017-11-07

This final rule updates the home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) payment rates, including the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rates, the national per-visit rates, and the non-routine medical supply (NRS) conversion factor, effective for home health episodes of care ending on or after January 1, 2018. This rule also: Updates the HH PPS case-mix weights using the most current, complete data available at the time of rulemaking; implements the third year of a 3-year phase-in of a reduction to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment to account for estimated case-mix growth unrelated to increases in patient acuity (that is, nominal case-mix growth) between calendar year (CY) 2012 and CY 2014; and discusses our efforts to monitor the potential impacts of the rebasing adjustments that were implemented in CY 2014 through CY 2017. In addition, this rule finalizes changes to the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP). We are not finalizing the implementation of the Home Health Groupings Model (HHGM) in this final rule.

Control and Guidance of Low-Cost Robots via Gesture Perception for Monitoring Activities in the Home

PubMed Central

Sempere, Angel D.; Serna-Leon, Arturo; Gil, Pablo; Puente, Santiago; Torres, Fernando

2015-01-01

This paper describes the development of a low-cost mini-robot that is controlled by visual gestures. The prototype allows a person with disabilities to perform visual inspections indoors and in domestic spaces. Such a device could be used as the operator's eyes obviating the need for him to move about. The robot is equipped with a motorised webcam that is also controlled by visual gestures. This camera is used to monitor tasks in the home using the mini-robot while the operator remains quiet and motionless. The prototype was evaluated through several experiments testing the ability to use the mini-robot’s kinematics and communication systems to make it follow certain paths. The mini-robot can be programmed with specific orders and can be tele-operated by means of 3D hand gestures to enable the operator to perform movements and monitor tasks from a distance. PMID:26690448

Design of a Wireless Sensor Network Platform for Tele-Homecare

PubMed Central

Chung, Yu-Fang; Liu, Chia-Hui

2013-01-01

The problem of an ageing population has become serious in the past few years as the degeneration of various physiological functions has resulted in distinct chronic diseases in the elderly. Most elderly are not willing to leave home for healthcare centers, but caring for patients at home eats up caregiver resources, and can overwhelm patients' families. Besides, a lot of chronic disease symptoms cause the elderly to visit hospitals frequently. Repeated examinations not only exhaust medical resources, but also waste patients' time and effort. To make matters worse, this healthcare system does not actually appear to be effective as expected. In response to these problems, a wireless remote home care system is designed in this study, where ZigBee is used to set up a wireless network for the users to take measurements anytime and anywhere. Using suitable measuring devices, users' physiological signals are measured, and their daily conditions are monitored by various sensors. Being transferred through ZigBee network, vital signs are analyzed in computers which deliver distinct alerts to remind the users and the family of possible emergencies. The system could be further combined with electric appliances to remotely control the users' environmental conditions. The environmental monitoring function can be activated to transmit in real time dynamic images of the cared to medical personnel through the video function when emergencies occur. Meanwhile, in consideration of privacy, the video camera would be turned on only when it is necessary. The caregiver could adjust the angle of camera to a proper position and observe the current situation of the cared when a sensor on the cared or the environmental monitoring system detects exceptions. All physiological data are stored in the database for family enquiries or accurate diagnoses by medical personnel. PMID:24351630

Design of a wireless sensor network platform for tele-homecare.

PubMed

Chung, Yu-Fang; Liu, Chia-Hui

2013-12-12

The problem of an ageing population has become serious in the past few years as the degeneration of various physiological functions has resulted in distinct chronic diseases in the elderly. Most elderly are not willing to leave home for healthcare centers, but caring for patients at home eats up caregiver resources, and can overwhelm patients' families. Besides, a lot of chronic disease symptoms cause the elderly to visit hospitals frequently. Repeated examinations not only exhaust medical resources, but also waste patients' time and effort. To make matters worse, this healthcare system does not actually appear to be effective as expected. In response to these problems, a wireless remote home care system is designed in this study, where ZigBee is used to set up a wireless network for the users to take measurements anytime and anywhere. Using suitable measuring devices, users' physiological signals are measured, and their daily conditions are monitored by various sensors. Being transferred through ZigBee network, vital signs are analyzed in computers which deliver distinct alerts to remind the users and the family of possible emergencies. The system could be further combined with electric appliances to remotely control the users' environmental conditions. The environmental monitoring function can be activated to transmit in real time dynamic images of the cared to medical personnel through the video function when emergencies occur. Meanwhile, in consideration of privacy, the video camera would be turned on only when it is necessary. The caregiver could adjust the angle of camera to a proper position and observe the current situation of the cared when a sensor on the cared or the environmental monitoring system detects exceptions. All physiological data are stored in the database for family enquiries or accurate diagnoses by medical personnel.

Towards a smart non-invasive fluid loss measurement system.

PubMed

Suryadevara, N K; Mukhopadhyay, S C; Barrack, L

2015-04-01

In this article, a smart wireless sensing non-invasive system for estimating the amount of fluid loss, a person experiences while physical activity is presented. The system measures three external body parameters, Heart Rate, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR, or skin conductance), and Skin Temperature. These three parameters are entered into an empirically derived formula along with the user's body mass index, and estimation for the amount of fluid lost is determined. The core benefit of the developed system is the affluence usage in combining with smart home monitoring systems to care elderly people in ambient assisted living environments as well in automobiles to monitor the body parameters of a motorist.

Multi-sensors acquisition, data fusion, knowledge mining and alarm triggering in health smart homes for elderly people.

PubMed

Demongeot, Jacques; Virone, Gilles; Duchêne, Florence; Benchetrit, Gila; Hervé, Thierry; Noury, Norbert; Rialle, Vincent

2002-06-01

We deal in this paper with the concept of health smart home (HSH) designed to follow dependent people at home in order to avoid the hospitalisation, limiting hospital sojourns to short acute care or fast specific diagnostic investigations. For elderly people the project of such a HSH has been called AISLE (Apartment with Intelligent Sensors for Longevity Effectiveness). For this purpose, system having three levels of automatic measuring (1) the circadian activity, (2) the vegetative state, and (3) some state variables specific of certain organs involved in precise diseases, has been developed within the framework of a 'Health Integrated Smart Home Information System' (HIS2). HIS2 is an experimental platform for technologic development and clinical evaluation, in order to ensure the medical security and quality of life for patients who need home based medical monitoring. Location sensors are placed in each room of the HIS2, allowing the monitoring of patient's successive daily activity phases within the patient's home environment. We proceed with a sampling in an hourly schedule to detect weak variations of the nycthemeral rhythms. Based on numerous measurements, we establish a mean value with confidence limits of activity variables in normal behaviour permitting to detect for example a sudden abnormal event (like a fall) as well as a chronic pathologic activity (like a pollakiuria), allowing us to define a canonical domain within which the patient's activity is qualified to be 'predictable'. Alerts are set off if the patient's activity deviates from a predictable canonical domain. Moreover, we can follow the cardio-respiratory state by measuring the intensity of the respiratory sinusal arrhythmia in order to quantify the integrity of the bulbar vegetative system, and we finally propose to carefully watch abnormal symptoms like arterial pressure or presence of plasma proteins in the expired air flow for early detecting respectively hypertension or pulmonary oedema.

Service oriented network architecture for control and management of home appliances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayakawa, Hiroshi; Koita, Takahiro; Sato, Kenya

2005-12-01

Recent advances in multimedia network systems and mechatronics have led to the development of a new generation of applications that associate the use of various multimedia objects with the behavior of multiple robotic actors. The connection of audio and video devices through high speed multimedia networks is expected to make the system more convenient to use. For example, many home appliances, such as a video camera, a display monitor, a video recorder, an audio system and so on, are being equipped with a communication interface in the near future. Recently some platforms (i.e. UPnP1, HAVi2 and so on) are proposed for constructing home networks; however, there are some issues to be solved to realize various services by connecting different equipment via the pervasive peer-to-peer network. UPnP offers network connectivity of PCs of intelligent home appliances, practically, which means to require a PC in the network to control other devices. Meanwhile, HAVi has been developed for intelligent AV equipments with sophisticated functions using high CPU power and large memory. Considering the targets of home alliances are embedded systems, this situation raises issues of software and hardware complexity, cost, power consumption and so on. In this study, we have proposed and developed the service oriented network architecture for control and management of home appliances, named SONICA (Service Oriented Network Interoperability for Component Adaptation), to address these issues described before.

Information technology sophistication in nursing homes.

PubMed

Alexander, Gregory L; Wakefield, Douglas S

2009-07-01

There is growing recognition that a more sophisticated information technology (IT) infrastructure is needed to improve the quality of nursing home care in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of IT sophistication in nursing homes considering the level of technological diversity, maturity and level of integration in resident care, clinical support, and administration. Twelve IT stakeholders were interviewed from 4 nursing homes considered to have high IT sophistication using focus groups and key informant interviews. Common themes were derived using qualitative analytics and axial coding from field notes collected during interviews and focus groups. Respondents echoed the diversity of the innovative IT systems being implemented; these included resident alerting mechanisms for clinical decision support, enhanced reporting capabilities of patient-provider interactions, remote monitoring, and networking among affiliated providers. Nursing home IT is in its early stages of adoption; early adopters are beginning to realize benefits across clinical domains including resident care, clinical support, and administrative activities. The most important thread emerging from these discussions was the need for further interface development between IT systems to enhance integrity and connectivity. The study shows that some early adopters of sophisticated IT systems in nursing homes are beginning to achieve added benefit for resident care, clinical support, and administrative activities.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Designing a superinsulated home has many benefits including improved comfort, reduced exterior noise penetration, lower energy bills, and the ability to withstand power and fuel outages under much more comfortable conditions than a typical home. Extremely low heating and cooling loads equate to much smaller HVAC equipment than conventionally required. Sizing the mechanical system to these much lower loads reduces first costs and the size of the distribution system needed. While these homes aren't necessarily constructed with excessive mass in the form of concrete floors and walls, the amount of insulation and the increase in the thickness of the buildingmore » envelope can lead to a mass effect, resulting in the structures ability to store much more heat than a code built home. This results in a very low thermal inertia making the building much less sensitive to drastic temperature swings thereby decreasing the peak heating load demand. Alternative methods that take this inertia into account along with solar and internal gains result in smaller more appropriate design loads than those calculated using Manual J version 8. During the winter of 2013/2014, CARB monitored the energy use of three homes in climate zone 6 in an attempt to evaluate the accuracy of two different mechanical system sizing methods for low load homes. Based on the results, it is recommended that internal and solar gains be included and some credit for thermal inertia be used in sizing calculations for superinsulated homes.« less

Development of the Internet-Enabled System for Exercise Telerehabilitation and Cardiovascular Training.

PubMed

Dedov, Vadim N; Dedova, Irina V

2015-07-01

Sustained exercise training could significantly improve patient rehabilitation and management of noncommunicable diseases in the community. This study aimed to develop a universal telecare system for delivery of exercise rehabilitation and cardiovascular training services at home. An innovative bilateral leg training device was equipped with an electronic system for the ongoing measurement of training activities with the device. A single-item parameter reflecting the intensity of training was monitored using several modern telecommunication technologies. According to the application protocol, eight volunteers first tried the device for 30-60 min to determine their personal training capacity. Then, they were provided with equipment to use at home for 4 weeks. Adherence to daily training was assessed by the number of training days per week, training intensity, and duration of training sessions. The system provided reliable recording of training activities with the device using (1) long-term data logging without an ongoing connection to the computer, (2) wireless monitoring and recording of training activities on a stand-alone computer, and (3) a secure cloud-based monitoring over the Internet connection using electronic devices, including smartphones. Overall analysis of recordings and phone feedbacks to participants took only approximately 5 h for the duration of study. This study, although of a pilot nature, described the comprehensive exercise telerehabilitation system integrating mobile training equipment with personalized training protocols and remote monitoring. A single-item electronic parameter of the system usage facilitated time-effective data management. Wireless connection allowed various locations of device application and several monitoring arrangements ranging from real-time monitoring to long-term recording of exercise activities. A cloud-based software platform enabled management of multiple users at distance. Implementation of this model may facilitate both accessibility and availability of personalized exercise telerehabilitation services. Further studies would validate it in the clinical and healthcare environment.

Strict Blood Pressure Control Achieved Using an ICT-Based Home Blood Pressure Monitoring System in a Catastrophically Damaged Area After a Disaster.

PubMed

Nishizawa, Masafumi; Hoshide, Satoshi; Okawara, Yukie; Matsuo, Takefumi; Kario, Kazuomi

2017-01-01

At the time of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami (March 2011), the authors developed a web-based information and communications technology (ICT)-based blood pressure (BP) monitoring system (the Disaster CArdiovascular Prevention [DCAP] Network) and introduced it in an area that was catastrophically damaged (Minamisanriku town) to help control the survivors' BP. Using this system, home BP (HBP) was monitored and the data were automatically transmitted to a central computer database and to the survivors' attending physicians. The study participants, 341 hypertensive patients, continued to use this system for 4 years after the disaster and all of the obtained HBP readings were analyzed. This DCAP HBP-guided approach helped achieve a decrease in the participants' HBPs (initial average: 151.3±20.0/86.9±10.2 mm Hg to 120.2±12.1/70.8±10.2 mm Hg) over the 4 years. In addition, the amplitude of seasonal BP variation was suppressed and the duration from the summer lowest HBP values to the winter peak HBP values was gradually prolonged. This ICT-based approach was useful to achieve strict HBP control and minimize the seasonal BP variation even in a catastrophically damaged area during a 4-year period after the disaster, suggesting that this approach could be a routine way to monitor BP in the community. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Selected algorithms for measurement data processing in impulse-radar-based system for monitoring of human movements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miękina, Andrzej; Wagner, Jakub; Mazurek, Paweł; Morawski, Roman Z.

2016-11-01

The importance of research on new technologies that could be employed in care services for elderly and disabled persons is highlighted. Advantages of impulse-radar sensors, when applied for non-intrusive monitoring of such persons in their home environment, are indicated. Selected algorithms for the measurement data preprocessing - viz. the algorithms for clutter suppression and echo parameter estimation, as well as for estimation of the twodimensional position of a monitored person - are proposed. The capability of an impulse-radar- based system to provide some application-specific parameters, viz. the parameters characterising the patient's health condition, is also demonstrated.

Development of software application dedicated to impulse- radar-based system for monitoring of human movements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miękina, Andrzej; Wagner, Jakub; Mazurek, Paweł; Morawski, Roman Z.; Sudmann, Tobba T.; Børsheim, Ingebjørg T.; Øvsthus, Knut; Jacobsen, Frode F.; Ciamulski, Tomasz; Winiecki, Wiesław

2016-11-01

The importance of research on new technologies that could be employed in care services for elderly and disabled persons is highlighted. Advantages of radar sensors, when applied for non-invasive monitoring of such persons in their home environment, are indicated. A need for comprehensible visualisation of the intermediate results of measurement data processing is justified. Capability of an impulse-radar-based system to provide information, being of crucial importance for medical or healthcare personnel, are investigated. An exemplary software interface, tailored for non-technical users, is proposed, and preliminary results of impulse-radar-based monitoring of human movements are demonstrated.

Net-Zero Energy Home Grows Up: Lessons and Puzzles from 10 Years of Data; Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sparn, Bethany; Earle, Lieko; Christensen, Craig

In 2005, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, with support from NREL and other partners, built one of the first homes in the US to achieve net-zero energy based on monitored data. A family of three moved into the house when it was completed and lives there still. The home has been monitored continuously for the past ten years. Although PV production has remained steady, net energy performance has varied each year. The home was a net producer of energy annually in each of the first three years and in the ninth year, but not in years four through eight.more » Over the years, the PV system provided between 124% and 64% of the home source energy use. Electricity use in the home increased steadily during the first eight years, even though no significant new appliance was introduced into the house, such as a window air conditioner. Miscellaneous electric loads and space heating, both strongly dependent on occupant behavior, appear to be primarily responsible for the observed increase in energy use. An interesting aspect of this case study is how, even within a single family, natural changes in occupant lifestyles over time (e.g., kids growing up, schedules changing) can substantially impact the overall energy intensity of a home. Data from the last ten years will be explored for lessons learned that can improve the way we design low-load homes without sacrificing comfort or convenience for the occupants, and how we can make realistic predictions of long-term energy performance.« less

A Net-Zero Energy Home Grows Up: Lessons and Puzzles from 10 Years of Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sparn, Bethany; Earle, Lieko; Christensen, Craig

In 2005, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, with support from NREL and other partners, built one of the first homes in the US to achieve net-zero energy based on monitored data. A family of three moved into the house when it was completed and lives there still. The home has been monitored continuously for the past ten years. Although PV production has remained steady, net energy performance has varied each year. The home was a net producer of energy annually in each of the first three years and in the ninth year, but not in years four through eight.more » Over the years, the PV system provided between 124% and 64% of the home source energy use. Electricity use in the home increased steadily during the first eight years, even though no significant new appliance was introduced into the house, such as a window air conditioner. Miscellaneous electric loads and space heating, both strongly dependent on occupant behavior, appear to be primarily responsible for the observed increase in energy use. An interesting aspect of this case study is how, even within a single family, natural changes in occupant lifestyles over time (e.g., kids growing up, schedules changing) can substantially impact the overall energy intensity of a home. Data from the last ten years will be explored for lessons learned that can improve the way we design low-load homes without sacrificing comfort or convenience for the occupants, and how we can make realistic predictions of long-term energy performance.« less

Development of a belt-type wearable sensor system with multi-function for home health care

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ban, Yunho; Choi, Samjin; Jiang, Zhongwei; Park, Chanwon

2005-12-01

Some reports show that the physiological information measured in hospital is not enough without the one measured in home. The physiological information monitored in home, therefore, is strongly required recently. The goal of this research is to develop a wearable and tractable sensor system for detecting biomedical signals such as cardiac rhythm, respiration, body movement, and percentage of body fat (%BF) and for home health care. A belt type sensor for this purpose is developed, which consists of sensing materials of PVDF film and conductive fabrics. Also several data processing techniques, such as the discrete wavelet transform, cross correlation and adaptive filtering method, were introduced to eliminate noises and base wandering and to extract the specified components. The ECG and respiration signals obtained by the proposed belt type sensor system gave good agreements with commercial medical system. Furthermore, the body fat (%BF) measurement based on the four-electrode BIA was also built in the belt sensor. The body fat was calculated by measuring the body impedance from the belt type sensor and compared with the predicted %BF measured by the commercial adipometer (TBF-607). The results validated also the efficiency of the belt type sensor system.

Location estimation in a smart home: system implementation and evaluation using experimental data.

PubMed

Rahal, Youcef; Pigot, Hélène; Mabilleau, Philippe

2008-01-01

In the context of a constantly increasing aging population with cognitive deficiencies, insuring the autonomy of the elders at home becomes a priority. The DOMUS laboratory is addressing this issue by conceiving a smart home which can both assist people and preserve their quality of life. Obviously, the ability to monitor properly the occupant's activities and thus provide the pertinent assistance depends highly on location information inside the smart home. This paper proposes a solution to localize the occupant thanks to Bayesian filtering and a set of anonymous sensors disseminated throughout the house. The localization system is designed for a single person inside the house. It could however be used in conjunction with other localization systems in case more people are present. Our solution is functional in real conditions. We conceived an experiment to estimate precisely its accuracy and evaluate its robustness. The experiment consists of a scenario of daily routine meant to maximize the occupant's motion in meaningful activities. It was performed by 14 subjects, one subject at a time. The results are satisfactory: the system's accuracy exceeds 85% and is independent of the occupant's profile. The system works in real time and behaves well in presence of noise.

45 CFR 307.10 - Functional requirements for computerized support enforcement systems in operation by October 1...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... information such as social security numbers, names, dates of birth, home addresses and mailing addresses... enable the Office to monitor State operations and assess program performance through the audit conducted...

Tele-monitoring of ventilator-dependent patients: a European Respiratory Society Statement.

PubMed

Ambrosino, Nicolino; Vitacca, Michele; Dreher, Michael; Isetta, Valentina; Montserrat, Josep M; Tonia, Thomy; Turchetti, Giuseppe; Winck, Joao Carlos; Burgos, Felip; Kampelmacher, Michael; Vagheggini, Guido

2016-09-01

The estimated prevalence of ventilator-dependent individuals in Europe is 6.6 per 100 000 people. The increasing number and costs of these complex patients make present health organisations largely insufficient to face their needs. As a consequence, their burden lays mostly over families. The need to reduce healthcare costs and to increase safety has prompted the development of tele-monitoring for home ventilatory assistance.A European Respiratory Society Task Force produced a literature research based statement on commonly accepted clinical criteria for indications, follow-up, equipment, facilities, legal and economic issues of tele-monitoring of these patients.Many remote health monitoring systems are available, ensuring safety, feasibility, effectiveness, sustainability and flexibility to face different patients' needs. The legal problems associated with tele-monitoring are still controversial. National and European Union (EU) governments should develop guidelines and ethical, legal, regulatory, technical, administrative standards for remote medicine. The economic advantages, if any, of this new approach must be compared to a "gold standard" of home care that is very variable among different European countries and within each European country.Much more research is needed before considering tele-monitoring a real improvement in the management of these patients. Copyright ©ERS 2016.

CPC - Monitoring & Data: Pacific Island Climate Data

Science.gov Websites

Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Center Home Site Map News Web resources and services. HOME > Monitoring and Data > Pacific Islands Climate Data & Maps island stations. NOAA/ National Weather Service NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction Climate

Mobilizing Older Adults: Harnessing the Potential of Smart Home Technologies. Contribution of the IMIA Working Group on Smart Homes and Ambient Assisted Living.

PubMed

Demiris, G; Thompson, H J

2012-01-01

This paper highlights the potential of smart home applications to not only assess mobility determinants for older adults in the home environment but also provide the opportunity for tailored interventions. We present a theoretical framework for assessing mobility parameters and utilizing this information to enable behavior change based on the Health Belief Model. We discuss examples that showcase the potential of smart home systems to not only measure but also improve mobility for community dwelling older adults. Mobility is a complex construct that cannot be addressed with a single monitoring approach or a single intervention. Instead, tailored interventions that address specific needs and behaviors of individuals and take into consideration preferences of older adults and potentially their social network are needed to effectively enforce positive behavior change. Smart home systems have the ability to capture details of one's daily living that could otherwise not be easily obtained; however, such data repositories alone are not sufficient to improve clinical outcomes if appropriate mechanisms for data mining and analysis, as well as tailored response systems are not in place. Unleashing the potential of smart home applications to measure and improve mobility has the potential of transforming elder care and providing potentially cost-effective tools to support independence for older adults. A technologically driven smart home application can maximize its clinical relevance by pursuing interactive features that can lead to behavior change.

Developing a telepresence robot for interpersonal communication with the elderly in a home environment.

PubMed

Tsai, Tzung-Cheng; Hsu, Yeh-Liang; Ma, An-I; King, Trevor; Wu, Chang-Huei

2007-08-01

"Telepresence" is an interesting field that includes virtual reality implementations with human-system interfaces, communication technologies, and robotics. This paper describes the development of a telepresence robot called Telepresence Robot for Interpersonal Communication (TRIC) for the purpose of interpersonal communication with the elderly in a home environment. The main aim behind TRIC's development is to allow elderly populations to remain in their home environments, while loved ones and caregivers are able to maintain a higher level of communication and monitoring than via traditional methods. TRIC aims to be a low-cost, lightweight robot, which can be easily implemented in the home environment. Under this goal, decisions on the design elements included are discussed. In particular, the implementation of key autonomous behaviors in TRIC to increase the user's capability of projection of self and operation of the telepresence robot, in addition to increasing the interactive capability of the participant as a dialogist are emphasized. The technical development and integration of the modules in TRIC, as well as human factors considerations are then described. Preliminary functional tests show that new users were able to effectively navigate TRIC and easily locate visual targets. Finally the future developments of TRIC, especially the possibility of using TRIC for home tele-health monitoring and tele-homecare visits are discussed.

Implementing a web-based home monitoring system within an academic health care network: barriers and facilitators to innovation diffusion.

PubMed

Pelletier, Alexandra C; Jethwani, Kamal; Bello, Heather; Kvedar, Joseph; Grant, Richard W

2011-01-01

The practice of outpatient type 2 diabetes management is gradually moving from the traditional visit-based, fee-for-service model to a new, health information communication technology (ICT)-supported model that can enable non-visit-based diabetes care. To date, adoption of innovative health ICT tools for diabetes management has been slowed by numerous barriers, such as capital investment costs, lack of reliable reimbursement mechanisms, design defects that have made some systems time-consuming and inefficient to use, and the need to integrate new ICT tools into a system not primarily designed for their use. Effective implementation of innovative diabetes health ICT interventions must address local practice heterogeneity and the interaction of this heterogeneity with clinical care delivery. The Center for Connected Health at Partners Healthcare has implemented a new ICT intervention, Diabetes Connect (DC), a Web-based glucose home monitoring and clinical messaging system. Using the framework of the diffusion of innovation theory, we review the implementation and examine lessons learned as we continue to deploy DC across the health care network. © 2010 Diabetes Technology Society.

A New mHealth Communication Framework for Use in Wearable WBANs and Mobile Technologies

PubMed Central

Hamida, Sana Tmar-Ben; Hamida, Elyes Ben; Ahmed, Beena

2015-01-01

Driven by the development of biomedical sensors and the availability of high mobile bandwidth, mobile health (mHealth) systems are now offering a wider range of new services. This revolution makes the idea of in-home health monitoring practical and provides the opportunity for assessment in “real-world” environments producing more ecologically valid data. In the field of insomnia diagnosis, for example, it is now possible to offer patients wearable sleep monitoring systems which can be used in the comfort of their homes over long periods of time. The recorded data collected from body sensors can be sent to a remote clinical back-end system for analysis and assessment. Most of the research on sleep reported in the literature mainly looks into how to automate the analysis of the sleep data and does not address the problem of the efficient encoding and secure transmissions of the collected health data. This article reviews the key enabling communication technologies and research challenges for the design of efficient mHealth systems. An end-to-end mHealth system architecture enabling the remote assessment and monitoring of patient's sleep disorders is then proposed and described as a case study. Finally, various mHealth data serialization formats and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication protocols are evaluated and compared under realistic operating conditions. PMID:25654718

A new mHealth communication framework for use in wearable WBANs and mobile technologies.

PubMed

Hamida, Sana Tmar-Ben; Hamida, Elyes Ben; Ahmed, Beena

2015-02-03

Driven by the development of biomedical sensors and the availability of high mobile bandwidth, mobile health (mHealth) systems are now offering a wider range of new services. This revolution makes the idea of in-home health monitoring practical and provides the opportunity for assessment in "real-world" environments producing more ecologically valid data. In the field of insomnia diagnosis, for example, it is now possible to offer patients wearable sleep monitoring systems which can be used in the comfort of their homes over long periods of time. The recorded data collected from body sensors can be sent to a remote clinical back-end system for analysis and assessment. Most of the research on sleep reported in the literature mainly looks into how to automate the analysis of the sleep data and does not address the problem of the efficient encoding and secure transmissions of the collected health data. This article reviews the key enabling communication technologies and research challenges for the design of efficient mHealth systems. An end-to-end mHealth system architecture enabling the remote assessment and monitoring of patient's sleep disorders is then proposed and described as a case study. Finally, various mHealth data serialization formats and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication protocols are evaluated and compared under realistic operating conditions.

Beyond inpatient and outpatient care: alternative model for hypertension management.

PubMed

Ho, P Michael; Rumsfeld, John S

2006-10-19

Hypertension is a major contributor to worldwide cardiovascular mortality, however, only one-third of patients with hypertension have their blood pressure treated to guideline recommended levels. To improve hypertension control, there may need to be a fundamental shift in care delivery, one that is population-based and simultaneously addresses patient, provider and system barriers. One potential approach is home-based disease management, based on the triad of home monitoring, team care, and patient self-care. Although there may be challenges to achieving the vision of home-based disease management, there are tremendous potential benefits of such an approach for reducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease.

A Primary Study of Indirect ECG Monitor Embedded in a Bed for Home Health Care

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ueno, Akinori; Shiogai, Yuuki; Ishiyama, Yoji

A system for monitoring electrocardiogram (ECG) through clothes inserted between the measuring electrodes and the body surface of a subject when lying on a mattress has been proposed. The principle of the system is based on capacitive coupling involving the electrode, the clothes, and the skin. Validation of the system revealed the following: (1) In spite of the gain attenuation in the pass band of the system, distortion of the detected signal was subtle even when clothes thicker than 1mm were inserted, (2) The system was able to yield a stable ECG from a subject particularly during sound sleep, (3) The system succeeded in detecting ECG after changing the posture into any of supine, right lateral, or left lateral positions by adopting a newly devised electrode configuration. Therefore, the proposed system appears promising for application to bedding as a non-invasive and awareness-free system for ECG monitoring during sleep.

Kinect4FOG: monitoring and improving mobility in people with Parkinson's using a novel system incorporating the Microsoft Kinect v2.

PubMed

Amini, Amin; Banitsas, Konstantinos; Young, William R

2018-05-23

Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative condition associated with several motor symptoms including tremors and slowness of movement. Freezing of gait (FOG); the sensation of one's feet being "glued" to the floor, is one of the most debilitating symptoms associated with advanced Parkinson's. FOG not only contributes to falls and related injuries, but also compromises quality of life as people often avoid engaging in functional daily activities both inside and outside the home. In the current study, we describe a novel system designed to detect FOG and falling in people with Parkinson's (PwP) as well as monitoring and improving their mobility using laser-based visual cues cast by an automated laser system. The system utilizes a RGB-D sensor based on Microsoft Kinect v2 and a laser casting system consisting of two servo motors and an Arduino microcontroller. This system was evaluated by 15 PwP with FOG. Here, we present details of the system along with a summary of feedback provided by PwP. Despite limitations regarding its outdoor use, feedback was very positive in terms of domestic usability and convenience, where 12/15 PwP showed interest in installing and using the system at their homes. Implications for Rehabilitation Providing an automatic and remotely manageable monitoring system for PwP gait analysis and fall detection. Providing an automatic, unobtrusive and dynamic visual cue system for PwP based on laser line projection. Gathering feedback from PwP about the practical usage of the implemented system through focus group events.

Time Out-of-Home and Cognitive, Physical, and Emotional Wellbeing of Older Adults: A Longitudinal Mixed Effects Model.

PubMed

Petersen, Johanna; Austin, Daniel; Mattek, Nora; Kaye, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Time out-of-home has been linked with numerous health outcomes, including cognitive decline, poor physical ability and low emotional state. Comprehensive characterization of this important health metric would potentially enable objective monitoring of key health outcomes. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between time out-of-home and cognitive status, physical ability and emotional state. Participants included 85 independent older adults, age 65-96 years (M = 86.36; SD = 6.79) who lived alone, from the Intelligent Systems for Assessing Aging Changes (ISAAC) and the ORCATECH Life Laboratory cohorts. Factors hypothesized to affect time out-of-home were assessed on three different temporal levels: yearly (cognitive status, loneliness, clinical walking speed), weekly (pain and mood) or daily (time out-of-home, in-home walking speed, weather, and season). Subject characteristics including age, race, and gender were assessed at baseline. Total daily time out-of-home in hours was assessed objectively and unobtrusively for up to one year using an in-home activity sensor platform. A longitudinal tobit mixed effects regression model was used to relate daily time out-of-home to cognitive status, physical ability and emotional state. More hours spend outside the home was associated with better cognitive function as assessed using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale, where higher scores indicate lower cognitive function (βCDR = -1.69, p<0.001). More hours outside the home was also associated with superior physical ability (βPain = -0.123, p<0.001) and improved emotional state (βLonely = -0.046, p<0.001; βLow mood = -0.520, p<0.001). Weather, season, and weekday also affected the daily time out-of-home. These results suggest that objective longitudinal monitoring of time out-of-home may enable unobtrusive assessment of cognitive, physical and emotional state. In addition, these results indicate that the factors affecting out-of-home behavior are complex, with factors such as living environment, weather and season significantly affecting time out-of-home. Studies investigating the relationship between time out-of-home and health outcomes may be optimized by taking into account the environment and life factors presented here.

Climate Prediction Center - Monitoring and Data Index

Science.gov Websites

Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Center Home Site Map News ; Atmospheric Monitoring and Data Monitoring Weather & Climate in Realtime Climate Diagnostics Bulletin Preliminary Climate Diagnostics Bulletin Figures Monthly Atmospheric & Sea Surface Temperature Indices

A Multimodal Database for a Home Remote Medical Care Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medjahed, Hamid; Istrate, Dan; Boudy, Jerome; Steenkeste, François; Baldinger, Jean-Louis; Dorizzi, Bernadette

The home remote monitoring systems aim to make a protective contribution to the well being of individuals (patients, elderly persons) requiring moderate amounts of support for independent living spaces, and improving their everyday life. Existing researches of these systems suffer from lack of experimental data and a standard medical database intended for their validation and improvement. This paper presents a multi-sensors environment for acquiring and recording a multimodal medical database, which includes physiological data (cardiac frequency, activity or agitation, posture, fall), environment sounds and localization data. It provides graphical interface functions to manage, process and index these data. The paper focuses on the system implementation, its usage and it points out possibilities for future work.

Spatially distributed fiber sensor with dual processed outputs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, X.; Spillman, William B., Jr.; Claus, Richard O.; Meissner, K. E.; Chen, K.

2005-05-01

Given the rapid aging of the world"s population, improvements in technology for automation of patient care and documentation are badly needed. We have previously demonstrated a 'smart bed' that can non-intrusively monitor a patient in bed and determine a patient's respiration, heart rate and movement without intrusive or restrictive medical measurements. This is an application of spatially distributed integrating fiber optic sensors. The basic concept is that any patient movement that also moves an optical fiber within a specified area will produce a change in the optical signal. Two modal modulation approaches were considered, a statistical mode (STM) sensor and a high order mode excitation (HOME) sensor. The present design includes an STM sensor combined with a HOME sensor, using both modal modulation approaches. A special lens system allows only the high order modes of the optical fiber to be excited and coupled into the sensor. For handling output from the dual STM-HOME sensor, computer processing methods are discussed that offer comprehensive perturbation analysis for more reliable patient monitoring.

Detection of physical activities using a physical activity monitor system for wheelchair users.

PubMed

Hiremath, Shivayogi V; Intille, Stephen S; Kelleher, Annmarie; Cooper, Rory A; Ding, Dan

2015-01-01

Availability of physical activity monitors for wheelchair users can potentially assist these individuals to track regular physical activity (PA), which in turn could lead to a healthier and more active lifestyle. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and validate algorithms for a physical activity monitoring system (PAMS) to detect wheelchair based activities. The PAMS consists of a gyroscope based wheel rotation monitor (G-WRM) and an accelerometer device (wocket) worn on the upper arm or on the wrist. A total of 45 persons with spinal cord injury took part in the study, which was performed in a structured university-based laboratory environment, a semi-structured environment at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, and in the participants' home environments. Participants performed at least ten PAs, other than resting, taken from a list of PAs. The classification performance for the best classifiers on the testing dataset for PAMS-Arm (G-WRM and wocket on upper arm) and PAMS-Wrist (G-WRM and wocket on wrist) was 89.26% and 88.47%, respectively. The outcomes of this study indicate that multi-modal information from the PAMS can help detect various types of wheelchair-based activities in structured laboratory, semi-structured organizational, and unstructured home environments. Copyright © 2014 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Screening for asymptomatic atrial fibrillation while monitoring the blood pressure at home: trial of regular versus irregular pulse for prevention of stroke (TRIPPS 2.0).

PubMed

Wiesel, Joseph; Abraham, Saji; Messineo, Frank C

2013-06-01

Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cause of strokes. Physician screening for AF has been recommended. Home screening for AF may increase the likelihood of detecting asymptomatic AF in patients at risk for stroke because of AF. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and accuracy of screening for AF when taking home blood pressure (BP) measurements using an automatic AF-detecting BP monitor. Subjects aged >64 years or those with hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, or previous stroke were enrolled by their primary physicians and given the AF-BP monitor and an electrocardiographic event monitor to use at home for 30 days. The AF-BP monitor reading was compared with the electrocardiographic reading to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the device for detecting AF. A total of 160 subjects were enrolled, with 10 withdrawing, 1 excluded, and 10 with no AF-BP monitor logs or electrocardiographic recordings. Of the 139 subjects included, 14 had known AF. There was a total of 3,316 days with AF-BP monitor readings and electrocardiographic readings. On the basis of the initial daily AF-BP monitor readings, the AF-BP monitor demonstrated sensitivity of 99.2% and specificity of 92.9% for detecting AF. Two subjects with no histories of AF had AF-BP monitor readings of AF that were confirmed by the electrocardiographic monitor. One of these subjects was started on warfarin. In conclusion, home screening for asymptomatic AF while taking BP measurements can be performed accurately. This can be used to detect new AF, allowing treatment with anticoagulation to reduce the future risk for stroke. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Monitoring the battery status for photovoltaic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Myungsoo; Hwang, Euijin

Photovoltaic power systems in Korea have been installed in remote islands where it is difficult to connect the utilities. Lead/acid batteries are used as an energy storage device for the stand-alone photovoltaic system. Hence, monitoring the battery status of photovoltaic systems is quite important to extend the total system service life. To monitor the state-of-charge of batteries, we adopted a current interrupt technique to measure the internal resistance of the battery. The internal resistance increases at the end of charge/discharge steps and also with cycles. The specific gravity of the electrolyte was measured in relation to the state-of-charge. A home-made optical hydrometer was utilized for automatic monitoring of the specific gravity. It is shown that the specific gravity and stratification increase with cycle number. One of the photovoltaic systems in a remote island, Ho-do, which has 90 kW peak power was checked for actual operational conditions such as solar generation, load, and battery status.

Detecting Parkinsons' symptoms in uncontrolled home environments: a multiple instance learning approach.

PubMed

Das, Samarjit; Amoedo, Breogan; De la Torre, Fernando; Hodgins, Jessica

2012-01-01

In this paper, we propose to use a weakly supervised machine learning framework for automatic detection of Parkinson's Disease motor symptoms in daily living environments. Our primary goal is to develop a monitoring system capable of being used outside of controlled laboratory settings. Such a system would enable us to track medication cycles at home and provide valuable clinical feedback. Most of the relevant prior works involve supervised learning frameworks (e.g., Support Vector Machines). However, in-home monitoring provides only coarse ground truth information about symptom occurrences, making it very hard to adapt and train supervised learning classifiers for symptom detection. We address this challenge by formulating symptom detection under incomplete ground truth information as a multiple instance learning (MIL) problem. MIL is a weakly supervised learning framework that does not require exact instances of symptom occurrences for training; rather, it learns from approximate time intervals within which a symptom might or might not have occurred on a given day. Once trained, the MIL detector was able to spot symptom-prone time windows on other days and approximately localize the symptom instances. We monitored two Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, each for four days with a set of five triaxial accelerometers and utilized a MIL algorithm based on axis parallel rectangle (APR) fitting in the feature space. We were able to detect subject specific symptoms (e.g. dyskinesia) that conformed with a daily log maintained by the patients.

Laboratory Testing of Demand-Response Enabled Household Appliances

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sparn, B.; Jin, X.; Earle, L.

2013-10-01

With the advent of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems capable of two-way communications between the utility's grid and the building, there has been significant effort in the Automated Home Energy Management (AHEM) industry to develop capabilities that allow residential building systems to respond to utility demand events by temporarily reducing their electricity usage. Major appliance manufacturers are following suit by developing Home Area Network (HAN)-tied appliance suites that can take signals from the home's 'smart meter,' a.k.a. AMI meter, and adjust their run cycles accordingly. There are numerous strategies that can be employed by household appliances to respond tomore » demand-side management opportunities, and they could result in substantial reductions in electricity bills for the residents depending on the pricing structures used by the utilities to incent these types of responses.The first step to quantifying these end effects is to test these systems and their responses in simulated demand-response (DR) conditions while monitoring energy use and overall system performance.« less

Laboratory Testing of Demand-Response Enabled Household Appliances

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sparn, B.; Jin, X.; Earle, L.

2013-10-01

With the advent of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems capable of two-way communications between the utility's grid and the building, there has been significant effort in the Automated Home Energy Management (AHEM) industry to develop capabilities that allow residential building systems to respond to utility demand events by temporarily reducing their electricity usage. Major appliance manufacturers are following suit by developing Home Area Network (HAN)-tied appliance suites that can take signals from the home's 'smart meter,' a.k.a. AMI meter, and adjust their run cycles accordingly. There are numerous strategies that can be employed by household appliances to respond tomore » demand-side management opportunities, and they could result in substantial reductions in electricity bills for the residents depending on the pricing structures used by the utilities to incent these types of responses. The first step to quantifying these end effects is to test these systems and their responses in simulated demand-response (DR) conditions while monitoring energy use and overall system performance.« less

'Smart' homes and telecare for independent living.

PubMed

Tang, P; Venables, T

2000-01-01

Telecare services and 'smart' homes share a common technological base in information technology and telecommunications. There is growing interest in both telecare services and smart homes, although they have been studied in isolation. Telecare has been driven largely by perceived cost savings and improved service delivery to the home, leading to improved quality of life and independent living. Smart homes are also expected to provide better and safer living conditions. The integration of the two should produce more secure and autonomous living. There are different forms of telecare services, as there are different types of smart homes, each ranging from basic systems involving the use of alarms and the ordinary telephone to intelligent monitoring with sensors and interactive communication. The introduction of these systems has policy implications, such as the need for coordination between health, social services and housing policy makers, which will reduce duplication and inefficient allocation of resources. Successful delivery of telecare to the home is as much dependent on the construction and condition of the housing stock as it is on the ability of the care provider to meet users' needs. If the UK National Health Service (NHS) could replace a significant proportion of domiciliary nursing visits by telephone calls, then savings of up of 200 million Pounds per annum would be possible.

Privacy versus autonomy: a tradeoff model for smart home monitoring technologies.

PubMed

Townsend, Daphne; Knoefel, Frank; Goubran, Rafik

2011-01-01

Smart homes are proposed as a new location for the delivery of healthcare services. They provide healthcare monitoring and communication services, by using integrated sensor network technologies. We validate a hypothesis regarding older adults' adoption of home monitoring technologies by conducting a literature review of articles studying older adults' attitudes and perceptions of sensor technologies. Using current literature to support the hypothesis, this paper applies the tradeoff model to decisions about sensor acceptance. Older adults are willing to trade privacy (by accepting a monitoring technology), for autonomy. As the information captured by the sensor becomes more intrusive and the infringement on privacy increases, sensors are accepted if the loss in privacy is traded for autonomy. Even video cameras, the most intrusive sensor type were accepted in exchange for the height of autonomy which is to remain in the home.

Comparison of patients' confidence in office, ambulatory, and home blood pressure measurements as methods of assessing for hypertension.

PubMed

Viera, Anthony J; Tuttle, Laura A; Voora, Raven; Olsson, Emily

2015-12-01

Uncertainty exists when relying on office (clinic) blood pressure (BP) measurements to diagnose hypertension. Home BP monitoring and ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) provide measurements that are more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. The degree to which patients exhibit uncertainty about office BP measurements is unknown, as is whether they would have less uncertainty about other BP measurement methods. We therefore assessed people's confidence in methods of BP measurement, comparing perceptions about office BP monitoring, home BP monitoring, and ABPM techniques. We surveyed adults who were 30 years or older (n=193), all whom had undergone office BP measurements, two sessions of 24-h ABPM, and two 5-day periods of home BP monitoring. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of confidence on a 1 to 9 scale that BP measurements represented their 'usual' BP. Respondents had least confidence that assessments of BP made by office measurements (median 6) represented usual BP and greater confidence that assessments made by home BP monitoring (median 7, P<0.0001 vs. office) and ABPM (median 8, P<0.0001 vs. office) did so. Confidence levels did not vary significantly by BP levels, age, sex, race, or education level. The finding that patients do not have a great deal of confidence in office BP measurements, but have a higher degree of confidence in home BP and ambulatory BP assessment methods may be helpful in guiding strategies to diagnose hypertension and improve antihypertensive medication adherence.

Implementing monitoring technologies in care homes for people with dementia: A qualitative exploration using Normalization Process Theory.

PubMed

Hall, Alex; Wilson, Christine Brown; Stanmore, Emma; Todd, Chris

2017-07-01

Ageing societies and a rising prevalence of dementia are associated with increasing demand for care home places. Monitoring technologies (e.g. bed-monitoring systems; wearable location-tracking devices) are appealing to care homes as they may enhance safety, increase resident freedom, and reduce staff burden. However, there are ethical concerns about the use of such technologies, and it is unclear how they might be implemented to deliver their full range of potential benefits. This study explored facilitators and barriers to the implementation of monitoring technologies in care homes. Embedded multiple-case study with qualitative methods. Three dementia-specialist care homes in North-West England. Purposive sample of 24 staff (including registered nurses, clinical specialists, senior managers and care workers), 9 relatives and 9 residents. 36 semi-structured interviews with staff, relatives and residents; 175h of observation; resident care record review. Data collection informed by Normalization Process Theory, which seeks to account for how novel interventions become routine practice. Data analysed using Framework Analysis. Findings are presented under three main themes: 1. Reasons for using technologies: The primary reason for using monitoring technologies was to enhance safety. This often seemed to override consideration of other potential benefits (e.g. increased resident freedom) or ethical concerns (e.g. resident privacy); 2. Ways in which technologies were implemented: Some staff, relatives and residents were not involved in discussions and decision-making, which seemed to limit understandings of the potential benefits and challenges from the technologies. Involvement of residents appeared particularly challenging. Staff highlighted the importance of training, but staff training appeared mainly informal which did not seem sufficient to ensure that staff fully understood the technologies; 3. Use of technologies in practice: Technologies generated frequent alarms that placed a burden upon staff, but staff were able to use their contextual knowledge to help to counter some of this burden. Some technologies offered a range of data-gathering capabilities, but were not always perceived as useful complements to practice. Implementation of monitoring technologies may be facilitated by the extent to which the technologies are perceived to enhance safety. Implementation may be further facilitated through greater involvement of all stakeholders in discussions and decision-making in order to deepen understandings about the range of potential benefits and challenges from the use of monitoring technologies. Staff training might need to move beyond functional instruction to include deeper exploration of anticipated benefits and the underlying rationale for using monitoring technologies. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

How Parents of Teens Store and Monitor Prescription Drugs in the Home

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friese, Bettina; Moore, Roland S.; Grube, Joel W.; Jennings, Vanessa K.

2013-01-01

Qualitative interviews were conducted with parents of teens to explore how parents store and monitor prescription drugs in the home. Most parents had prescription drugs in the house, but took few precautions against teens accessing these drugs. Strategies for monitoring included moving the drugs to different locations, remembering how many pills…

Automated Cognitive Health Assessment Using Smart Home Monitoring of Complex Tasks

PubMed Central

Dawadi, Prafulla N.; Cook, Diane J.; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2014-01-01

One of the many services that intelligent systems can provide is the automated assessment of resident well-being. We hypothesize that the functional health of individuals, or ability of individuals to perform activities independently without assistance, can be estimated by tracking their activities using smart home technologies. In this paper, we introduce a machine learning-based method for assessing activity quality in smart homes. To validate our approach we quantify activity quality for 179 volunteer participants who performed a complex, interweaved set of activities in our smart home apartment. We observed a statistically significant correlation (r=0.79) between automated assessment of task quality and direct observation scores. Using machine learning techniques to predict the cognitive health of the participants based on task quality is accomplished with an AUC value of 0.64. We believe that this capability is an important step in understanding everyday functional health of individuals in their home environments. PMID:25530925

Building America Case Study: Performance and Costs of Ductless Heat Pumps in Marine Climate High-Performance Homes: Habitat for Humanity -- The Woods, Tacoma, Washington

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

The Woods is a Habitat for Humanity (HFH) community of ENERGY STAR Homes (c) Northwest (ESHNW)-certified homes located in the marine climate of Tacoma/Pierce County, Washington. This research report builds on an earlier preliminary draft 2014 BA report, and includes significant billing analysis and cost effectiveness research from a collaborative, ongoing Ductless Heat Pump (DHP) research effort for Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This report focuses on the results of field testing, modeling, and monitoring of ductless mini-split heat pump hybrid heating systems in seven homes built and first occupied at various times between September 2013more » and October 2014. The report also provides WSU documentation of high-performance home observations, lessons learned, and stakeholder recommendations for builders of affordable high-performance housing such as HFH.« less

Automated Cognitive Health Assessment Using Smart Home Monitoring of Complex Tasks.

PubMed

Dawadi, Prafulla N; Cook, Diane J; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2013-11-01

One of the many services that intelligent systems can provide is the automated assessment of resident well-being. We hypothesize that the functional health of individuals, or ability of individuals to perform activities independently without assistance, can be estimated by tracking their activities using smart home technologies. In this paper, we introduce a machine learning-based method for assessing activity quality in smart homes. To validate our approach we quantify activity quality for 179 volunteer participants who performed a complex, interweaved set of activities in our smart home apartment. We observed a statistically significant correlation (r=0.79) between automated assessment of task quality and direct observation scores. Using machine learning techniques to predict the cognitive health of the participants based on task quality is accomplished with an AUC value of 0.64. We believe that this capability is an important step in understanding everyday functional health of individuals in their home environments.

[Design of Smart Care Tele-Monitoring System for Mother and Fetus].

PubMed

Xi, Haiyan; Gan, Guanghui; Zhang, Huilian; Chen, Chaomin

2015-03-01

To study and design a maternal and fetal monitoring system based on the cloud computing and internet of things, which can monitor and take smart care of the mother and fetus in 24 h. Using a new kind of wireless fetal monitoring detector and a mobile phone, thus the doctor can keep touch with hospital through internet. The mobile terminal was developed on the Android system, which accepted the data of fetal heart rate and uterine contraction transmitted from the wireless detector, exchange information with the server and display the monitoring data and the doctor's advice in real-time. The mobile phone displayed the fetal heart rate line and uterine contraction line in real-time, recorded the fetus' grow process. It implemented the real-time communication between the doctor and the user, through wireless communication technology. The system removes the constraint of traditional telephone cable for users, while the users can get remote monitoring from the medical institutions at home or in the nearest community at any time, providing health and safety guarantee for mother and fetus.

Development of a New ICT-Based Multisensor Blood Pressure Monitoring System for Use in Hemodynamic Biomarker-Initiated Anticipation Medicine for Cardiovascular Disease: The National IMPACT Program Project.

PubMed

Kario, Kazuomi; Tomitani, Naoko; Kanegae, Hiroshi; Yasui, Nobuhiko; Nishizawa, Masafumi; Fujiwara, Takeshi; Shigezumi, Takeya; Nagai, Ryozo; Harada, Hiroshi

We have developed a multisensor home and ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring system for monitoring 24-h central and brachial BP variability concurrent with physical activity (PA), temperature, and atmospheric pressure. The new BP monitoring system utilizes our recently developed biological and environmental signal monitoring Information Communication Technology/Internet of Things system, which can simultaneously monitor the environment (temperature, illumination, etc.) of different rooms in a house (entryway, bedroom, living room, bathing room, and toilet), and a wrist-type high-sensitivity actigraph for identifying the location of patients. By collecting both data on BP and environmental parameters, the system can assess the brachial and central hemodynamic BP reactivity profiles of patients, such as actisensitivity (BP change with PA), thermosensitivity (with temperature), and atmospheric sensitivity (with atmospheric pressure). We used this new system to monitor ambulatory BP variability in outpatients with one or more cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors both in summer and winter. Actisensitivity (the slope of the regression line of ambulatory BP against the log-physical activity) was higher in winter than summer. By multi-level analysis using the parameters monitored by this system, we estimated the ambulatory BPs under different conditions. The individual time-series big data collected by this system will contribute to anticipation medicine for CVD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Designing a superinsulated home has many benefits including improved comfort, reduced exterior noise penetration, lower energy bills, and the ability to withstand power and fuel outages under much more comfortable conditions than a typical home. Extremely low heating and cooling loads equate to much smaller HVAC equipment than conventionally required. Sizing the mechanical system to these much lower loads reduces first costs and the size of the distribution system needed. While these homes aren't necessarily constructed with excessive mass in the form of concrete floors and walls, the amount of insulation and the increase in the thickness of the buildingmore » envelope can lead to a mass effect, resulting in the structures ability to store much more heat than a code built home. This results in a very low thermal inertia making the building much less sensitive to drastic temperature swings thereby decreasing the peak heating load demand. Alternative methods that take this inertia into account along with solar and internal gains result in smaller more appropriate design loads than those calculated using Manual J version 8. During the winter of 2013/2014, the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings team monitored the energy use of three homes in climate zone 6 in an attempt to evaluate the accuracy of two different mechanical system sizing methods for low load homes. Based on the results, it is recommended that internal and solar gains be included and some credit for thermal inertia be used in sizing calculations for superinsulated homes.« less

Medicare and Medicaid programs; CY 2015 Home Health Prospective Payment System rate update; Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements; and survey and enforcement requirements for home health agencies. Final rule.

PubMed

2014-11-06

This final rule updates Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) rates, including the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rates, the national per-visit rates, and the non-routine medical supply (NRS) conversion factor under the Medicare prospective payment system for home health agencies (HHAs), effective for episodes ending on or after January 1, 2015. As required by the Affordable Care Act, this rule implements the second year of the four-year phase-in of the rebasing adjustments to the HH PPS payment rates. This rule provides information on our efforts to monitor the potential impacts of the rebasing adjustments and the Affordable Care Act mandated face-to-face encounter requirement. This rule also implements: Changes to simplify the face-to-face encounter regulatory requirements; changes to the HH PPS case-mix weights; changes to the home health quality reporting program requirements; changes to simplify the therapy reassessment timeframes; a revision to the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) personnel qualifications; minor technical regulations text changes; and limitations on the reviewability of the civil monetary penalty provisions. Finally, this rule also discusses Medicare coverage of insulin injections under the HH PPS, the delay in the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), and a HH value-based purchasing (HH VBP) model.

ESUMS: a mobile system for continuous home monitoring of rehabilitation patients.

PubMed

Strisland, Frode; Svagård, Ingrid; Seeberg, Trine M; Mathisen, Bjørn Magnus; Vedum, Jon; Austad, Hanne O; Liverud, Anders E; Kofod-Petersen, Anders; Bendixen, Ole Christian

2013-01-01

The pressure on the healthcare services is building up for several reasons. The ageing population trend, the increase in life-style related disease prevalence, as well as the increased treatment capabilities with associated general expectation all add pressure. The use of ambient healthcare technologies can alleviate the situation by enabling time and cost-efficient monitoring and follow-up of patients discharged from hospital care. We report on an ambulatory system developed for monitoring of physical rehabilitation patients. The system consists of a wearable multisensor monitoring device; a mobile phone with client application aggregating the data collected; a service-oriented-architecture based server solution; and a PC application facilitating patient follow-up by their health professional carers. The system has been tested and verified for accuracy in controlled environment trials on healthy volunteers, and also been usability tested by 5 congestive heart failure patients and their nurses. This investigation indicated that patients were able to use the system, and that nurses got an improved basis for patient follow-up.

Design of acoustic emission monitoring system based on VC++

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yang; He, Wei

2015-12-01

At present, a lot of companies at home and abroad have researched and produced a batch of specialized monitoring instruments for acoustic emission (AE). Most of them cost highly and the system function exists in less stable and less portability for the testing environment and transmission distance and other aspects. Depending on the research background and the status quo, a dual channel intelligent acoustic emission monitoring system was designed based on Microsoft Foundation Classes in Visual Studio C++ to solve some of the problems in the acoustic emission research and meet the needs of actual monitoring task. It contains several modules such as main module, acquisition module, signal parameters setting module and so on. It could give out corrosion AE waveform and signal parameters results according to the main menu selected parameters. So the needed information could be extracted from the experiments datum to solve the problem deeply. This soft system is the important part of AE detection g system.

Urea biosensor for hemodialysis monitoring

DOEpatents

Glass, Robert S.

1999-01-01

An electrochemical sensor capable of detecting and quantifying urea in fluids resulting from hemodialysis procedures. The sensor is based upon measurement of the pH change produced in an aqueous environment by the products of the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of urea. The sensor may be fabricated using methods amenable to mass fabrication, resulting in low-cost sensors and thus providing the potential for disposable use. In a typical application, the sensor could be used in treatment centers, in conjunction with an appropriate electronics/computer system, in order to determine the hemodialysis endpoint. The sensor can also be utilized to allow at-home testing to determine if dialysis was necessary. Such a home monitor is similar, in principle, to devices used for blood glucose testing by diabetics, and would require a blood droplet sample by using a finger prick.

Monitoring of ovarian activity by measurement of urinary excretion rates of estrone glucuronide and pregnanediol glucuronide using the Ovarian Monitor, Part II: reliability of home testing.

PubMed

Blackwell, Leonard F; Vigil, Pilar; Gross, Barbara; d'Arcangues, Catherine; Cooke, Delwyn G; Brown, James B

2012-02-01

The UNDP/WHO/World Bank/Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (Geneva) set up a study to determine whether it is feasible for women to monitor their ovarian activity reliably by home testing. Daily self-monitoring of urinary hormone metabolites for menstrual cycle assessment was evaluated by comparison of results obtained with the Home Ovarian Monitor by untrained users both at home and in study centres. Women collected daily data for urinary estrone glucuronide (E1G) and pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG) for two cycles, then the procedure was repeated in the women's local centre (in Chile, Australia or New Zealand) giving a total of 113 duplicate cycles. The tests were performed without the benefit of replicates or quality controls. The home and centre cycles were normalized and compared to identify assay errors, and the resulting home and centre menstrual cycle profiles were averaged. Reliable mean cycle profiles were obtained with the home and centre excretion rates agreeing to within 36 ± 21 nmol/24 h for E1G and 0.77 ± 0.28 µmol/24 h for baseline PdG values (1-5 µmol/24 h). The cycles had a mean length of 28.1 ± 3.1 days (n = 112; 5th and 95th percentiles: 24 and 35 days, respectively), a mean follicular phase of 14.8 ± 3.1 days (n = 107; 5th and 95th percentiles: 11 and 21 days) and a mean luteal phase length of 13.3 ± 1.5 days (n = 106; 5th and 95th percentiles: 11 and 17 days), calculated from the day of the LH peak. The study confirmed that the Ovarian Monitor pre-coated assay tubes worked well even in the hands of lay users, without standard curves, quality controls or replicates. Point-of-care monitoring to give reliable fertility data is feasible.

Nurse-led disease management for hypertension control in a diverse urban community: a randomized trial.

PubMed

Hebert, Paul L; Sisk, Jane E; Tuzzio, Leah; Casabianca, Jodi M; Pogue, Velvie A; Wang, Jason J; Chen, Yingchun; Cowles, Christine; McLaughlin, Mary Ann

2012-06-01

Treated but uncontrolled hypertension is highly prevalent in African American and Hispanic communities. To test the effectiveness on blood pressure of home blood pressure monitors alone or in combination with follow-up by a nurse manager. Randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Four hundred and sixteen African American or Hispanic patients with a history of uncontrolled hypertension. Patients with blood pressure ≥150/95, or ≥140/85 for patients with diabetes or renal disease, at enrollment were recruited from one community clinic and four hospital outpatient clinics in East and Central Harlem, New York City. Patients were randomized to receive usual care or a home blood pressure monitor plus one in-person counseling session and 9 months of telephone follow-up with a registered nurse. During the trial, the home monitor alone arm was added. Change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at 9 and 18 months. Changes from baseline to 9 months in systolic blood pressure relative to usual care was -7.0 mm Hg (Confidence Interval [CI], -13.4 to -0.6) in the nurse management plus home blood pressure monitor arm, and +1.1 mm Hg (95% CI, -5.5 to 7.8) in the home blood pressure monitor only arm. No statistically significant differences in systolic blood pressure were observed among treatment arms at 18 months. No statistically significant improvements in diastolic blood pressure were found across treatment arms at 9 or 18 months. Changes in prescribing practices did not explain the decrease in blood pressure in the nurse management arm. A nurse management intervention combining an in-person visit, periodic phone calls, and home blood pressure monitoring over 9 months was associated with a statistically significant reduction in systolic, but not diastolic, blood pressure compared to usual care in a high risk population. Home blood pressure monitoring alone was no more effective than usual care.

Feasibility study into self-administered training at home using an arm and hand device with motivational gaming environment in chronic stroke.

PubMed

Nijenhuis, Sharon M; Prange, Gerdienke B; Amirabdollahian, Farshid; Sale, Patrizio; Infarinato, Francesco; Nasr, Nasrin; Mountain, Gail; Hermens, Hermie J; Stienen, Arno H A; Buurke, Jaap H; Rietman, Johan S

2015-10-09

Assistive and robotic training devices are increasingly used for rehabilitation of the hemiparetic arm after stroke, although applications for the wrist and hand are trailing behind. Furthermore, applying a training device in domestic settings may enable an increased training dose of functional arm and hand training. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and potential clinical changes associated with a technology-supported arm and hand training system at home for patients with chronic stroke. A dynamic wrist and hand orthosis was combined with a remotely monitored user interface with motivational gaming environment for self-administered training at home. Twenty-four chronic stroke patients with impaired arm/hand function were recruited to use the training system at home for six weeks. Evaluation of feasibility involved training duration, usability and motivation. Clinical outcomes on arm/hand function, activity and participation were assessed before and after six weeks of training and at two-month follow-up. Mean System Usability Scale score was 69 % (SD 17 %), mean Intrinsic Motivation Inventory score was 5.2 (SD 0.9) points, and mean training duration per week was 105 (SD 66) minutes. Median Fugl-Meyer score improved from 37 (IQR 30) pre-training to 41 (IQR 32) post-training and was sustained at two-month follow-up (40 (IQR 32)). The Stroke Impact Scale improved from 56.3 (SD 13.2) pre-training to 60.0 (SD 13.9) post-training, with a trend at follow-up (59.8 (SD 15.2)). No significant improvements were found on the Action Research Arm Test and Motor Activity Log. Remotely monitored post-stroke training at home applying gaming exercises while physically supporting the wrist and hand showed to be feasible: participants were able and motivated to use the training system independently at home. Usability shows potential, although several usability issues need further attention. Upper extremity function and quality of life improved after training, although dexterity did not. These findings indicate that home-based arm and hand training with physical support from a dynamic orthosis is a feasible tool to enable self-administered practice at home. Such an approach enables practice without dependence on therapist availability, allowing an increase in training dose with respect to treatment in supervised settings. This study has been registered at the Netherlands Trial Registry (NTR): NTR3669 .

Computational Intelligence and Game Design for Effective At-Home Stroke Rehabilitation.

PubMed

Borghese, Nunzio Alberto; Pirovano, Michele; Lanzi, Pier Luca; Wüest, Seline; de Bruin, Eling D

2013-04-01

The aim of this article is to describe a game engine that has all the characteristics needed to support rehabilitation at home. The low-cost tracking devices recently introduced in the entertainment market allow measuring reliably at home, in real time, players' motion with a hands-free approach. Such systems have also become a source of inspiration for researchers working in rehabilitation. Computer games appear suited to guide rehabilitation because of their ability to engage the users. However, commercial videogames and game engines lack the peculiar functionalities required in rehabilitation: Games should be adapted to each patient's functional status, and monitoring the patient's motion is mandatory to avoid maladaptation. Feedback on performance and progression of the exercises should be provided. Lastly, several tracking devices should be considered, according to the patient's pathology and rehabilitation aims. We have analyzed the needs of the clinicians and of the patients associated in performing rehabilitation at home, identifying the characteristics that the game engine should have. The result of this analysis has led us to develop the Intelligent Game Engine for Rehabilitation (IGER) system, which combines the principles upon which commercial games are designed with the needs of rehabilitation. IGER is heavily based on computational intelligence: Adaptation of the difficulty level of the exercise is carried out through a Bayesian framework from the observation of the patient's success rate. Monitoring is implemented in fuzzy systems and based on rules defined for the exercises by clinicians. Several devices can be attached to IGER through an input abstraction layer, like the Nintendo ® (Kyoto, Japan) Wii™ Balance Board™, the Microsoft ® (Redmond, WA) Kinect, the Falcon from Novint Technologies (Albuquerque, NM), or the Tyromotion (Graz, Austria) Timo ® plate balance board. IGER is complemented with videogames embedded in a specific taxonomy developed to support rehabilitation progression through time. A few games aimed at postural rehabilitation have been designed and developed to test the functionalities of the IGER system. The preliminary results of tests on normal elderly people and patients with the supervision of clinicians have shown that the IGER system indeed does feature the characteristics required to support rehabilitation at home and that it is ready for clinical pilot testing at patients' homes.

Computational Intelligence and Game Design for Effective At-Home Stroke Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Pirovano, Michele; Lanzi, Pier Luca; Wüest, Seline; de Bruin, Eling D.

2013-01-01

Abstract Objective The aim of this article is to describe a game engine that has all the characteristics needed to support rehabilitation at home. The low-cost tracking devices recently introduced in the entertainment market allow measuring reliably at home, in real time, players' motion with a hands-free approach. Such systems have also become a source of inspiration for researchers working in rehabilitation. Computer games appear suited to guide rehabilitation because of their ability to engage the users. However, commercial videogames and game engines lack the peculiar functionalities required in rehabilitation: Games should be adapted to each patient's functional status, and monitoring the patient's motion is mandatory to avoid maladaptation. Feedback on performance and progression of the exercises should be provided. Lastly, several tracking devices should be considered, according to the patient's pathology and rehabilitation aims. Subjects and Methods We have analyzed the needs of the clinicians and of the patients associated in performing rehabilitation at home, identifying the characteristics that the game engine should have. Results The result of this analysis has led us to develop the Intelligent Game Engine for Rehabilitation (IGER) system, which combines the principles upon which commercial games are designed with the needs of rehabilitation. IGER is heavily based on computational intelligence: Adaptation of the difficulty level of the exercise is carried out through a Bayesian framework from the observation of the patient's success rate. Monitoring is implemented in fuzzy systems and based on rules defined for the exercises by clinicians. Several devices can be attached to IGER through an input abstraction layer, like the Nintendo® (Kyoto, Japan) Wii™ Balance Board™, the Microsoft® (Redmond, WA) Kinect, the Falcon from Novint Technologies (Albuquerque, NM), or the Tyromotion (Graz, Austria) Timo® plate balance board. IGER is complemented with videogames embedded in a specific taxonomy developed to support rehabilitation progression through time. Conclusions A few games aimed at postural rehabilitation have been designed and developed to test the functionalities of the IGER system. The preliminary results of tests on normal elderly people and patients with the supervision of clinicians have shown that the IGER system indeed does feature the characteristics required to support rehabilitation at home and that it is ready for clinical pilot testing at patients' homes. PMID:24761321

Nurse's perceptions and experiences of using of a mobile-phone-based Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS) to monitor and manage chemotherapy-related toxicity.

PubMed

Maguire, R; McCann, L; Miller, M; Kearney, N

2008-09-01

Many people diagnosed with cancer will receive chemotherapy as a core component of their care. Recent changes in the delivery of cancer services mean that patients frequently receive care on an out-patient basis and are therefore often required to manage related side effects at home without direct support from oncology health professionals. The use of information and communications technology may be seen as a means of supporting patients receiving chemotherapy in the home care setting. This mixed methods study, reports on the perceptions of nurses (n=35) who participated in a randomised controlled trial of a mobile phone based, Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS), in the management of chemotherapy-related toxicity in patients with breast, lung and colorectal cancer. Nurses' perceptions of ASyMS were evaluated at the start and the end of the study. Overall, they could see the benefits of ASyMS in the remote monitoring of chemotherapy toxicity and its role in facilitating early intervention and subsequent management, demonstrating the potential utility of the system within clinical practice.

SCORHE: A novel and practical approach to video monitoring of laboratory mice housed in vivarium cage racks

PubMed Central

Dennis, John U.; Krynitsky, Jonathan; Garmendia-Cedillos, Marcial; Swaroop, Kanchan; Malley, James D.; Pajevic, Sinisa; Abuhatzira, Liron; Bustin, Michael; Gillet, Jean-Pierre; Gottesman, Michael M.; Mitchell, James B.; Pohida, Thomas J.

2015-01-01

The System for Continuous Observation of Rodents in Home-cage Environment (SCORHE) was developed to demonstrate the viability of compact and scalable designs for quantifying activity levels and behavior patterns for mice housed within a commercial ventilated cage rack. The SCORHE in-rack design provides day- and night-time monitoring with the consistency and convenience of the home-cage environment. The dual-video camera custom hardware design makes efficient use of space, does not require home-cage modification, and is animal-facility user-friendly. Given the system’s low cost and suitability for use in existing vivariums without modification to the animal husbandry procedures or housing setup, SCORHE opens up the potential for the wider use of automated video monitoring in animal facilities. SCORHE’s potential uses include day-to-day health monitoring, as well as advanced behavioral screening and ethology experiments, ranging from the assessment of the short- and long-term effects of experimental cancer treatments to the evaluation of mouse models. When used for phenotyping and animal model studies, SCORHE aims to eliminate the concerns often associated with many mouse-monitoring methods, such as circadian rhythm disruption, acclimation periods, lack of night-time measurements, and short monitoring periods. Custom software integrates two video streams to extract several mouse activity and behavior measures. Studies comparing the activity levels of ABCB5 knockout and HMGN1 overexpresser mice with their respective C57BL parental strains demonstrate SCORHE’s efficacy in characterizing the activity profiles for singly- and doubly-housed mice. Another study was conducted to demonstrate the ability of SCORHE to detect a change in activity resulting from administering a sedative. PMID:24706080

Sensor Fusion to Infer Locations of Standing and Reaching Within the Home in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury.

PubMed

Lonini, Luca; Reissman, Timothy; Ochoa, Jose M; Mummidisetty, Chaithanya K; Kording, Konrad; Jayaraman, Arun

2017-10-01

The objective of rehabilitation after spinal cord injury is to enable successful function in everyday life and independence at home. Clinical tests can assess whether patients are able to execute functional movements but are limited in assessing such information at home. A prototype system is developed that detects stand-to-reach activities, a movement with important functional implications, at multiple locations within a mock kitchen. Ten individuals with incomplete spinal cord injuries performed a sequence of standing and reaching tasks. The system monitored their movements by combining two sources of information: a triaxial accelerometer, placed on the subject's thigh, detected sitting or standing, and a network of radio frequency tags, wirelessly connected to a wrist-worn device, detected reaching at three locations. A threshold-based algorithm detected execution of the combined tasks and accuracy was measured by the number of correctly identified events. The system was shown to have an average accuracy of 98% for inferring when individuals performed stand-to-reach activities at each tag location within the same room. The combination of accelerometry and tags yielded accurate assessments of functional stand-to-reach activities within a home environment. Optimization of this technology could simplify patient compliance and allow clinicians to assess functional home activities.

An assisted-living home architecture with integrated healthcare services for elderly people.

PubMed

Marsh, Andy; Biniaris, Christos; Vergados, Dimitrios; Eppler, Arnold; Kavvadias, Christoforos; Bigalke, Olaf; Robert, Eric; Jerabek, Boro; Alevizos, Alevizos; Caragiozidis, Michael

2008-01-01

Since the population of elderly people grows absolutely and in relation to the overall population in the world, the improvement of the quality of life of elderly people at home is of a great importance. This can be achieved through the development of generic technologies for managing their domestic ambient environment consisting of medical sensors, entertainment equipment, home automation systems and white goods, increasing their autonomy and safety. In this context, the provision intelligent interactive healthcare services will improve their daily life and allowing at the same time the continuous monitoring of their health and their effective treatment. This work is supported by the INHOME Project EU IST-045061-STP, http://www.ist-inhome.eu.

Forecasting the wellness of elderly through SNMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yuan; Li, Lingling; Ma, Chao; Li, Lian; Huang, Bingqing; Liu, Li

2017-03-01

Accurate and timely information collection is important for physicians to provide prompt and appropriate treatment for patients. In this paper, a smart nursing home monitoring system which can predict the health conditions of the elderly people who live in the nursing home is presented. A framework integrating temporal and spatial contextual information for evaluating the wellness of an elderly has been modeled. A novel activity detection process based on the location information collects by the RFID technology in performing essential daily activities has been designed and developed. A BP neural network is trained using the activity information of the elderly live in the nursing home, wellness models are tested and the results are encouraging.

[Intelligent videosurveillance and falls detection: Perceptions of professionals and managers].

PubMed

Lapierre, Nolwenn; Carpentier, Isabelle; St-Arnaud, Alain; Ducharme, Francine; Meunier, Jean; Jobidon, Mireille; Rousseau, Jacqueline

2016-02-01

Gerontechnologies can be used to detect accidental falls. However, existing systems do not entirely meet users' expectations. Our team developed an intelligent video-monitoring systems to fill these gaps. Authors advocate consulting potential users at the early stages of the design of gerontechnologies and integrating their suggestions. This study aims to explore health care workers' opinion regarding the intelligent video monitoring to detect falls by older adults living at home. This qualitative study explored the opinions of 31 participants using focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed using predetermined codes based on the competence model. Participants reported several advantages for using the intelligent video monitoring and provided suggestions for improving its use. The participants' suggestions and comments will help to improve the system and match it to users' needs. © CAOT 2015.

USDA APHIS | National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS)

Science.gov Websites

USDA - APHIS United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Facebook Email Blog Home Our Focus Animal Health Animal Welfare Biotechnology Business Services Civil Rights Emergency Response Imports & Exports International Services Plant Health Science Tribal

Improving management and effectiveness of home blood pressure monitoring: a qualitative UK primary care study.

PubMed

Grant, Sabrina; Greenfield, Sheila M; Nouwen, Arie; McManus, Richard J

2015-11-01

Self-monitoring blood pressure (SMBP) is becoming an increasingly prevalent practice in UK primary care, yet there remains little conceptual understanding of why patients with hypertension engage in self-monitoring. To identify psychological factors or processes prompting the decision to self-monitor blood pressure. A qualitative study of patients previously participating in a survey study about SMBP from four general practices in the West Midlands. Taped and transcribed in-depth interviews with 16 patients (6 currently monitoring, 2 used to self-monitor, and 8 had never self-monitored). Thematic analysis was undertaken. Three main themes emerged: 'self' and 'living with hypertension' described the emotional element of living with an asymptomatic condition; 'self-monitoring behaviour and medication' described overall views about self-monitoring, current practice, reasons for monitoring, and the impact on medication adherence; and 'the GP-patient transaction' described the power relations affecting decisions to self-monitor. Self-monitoring was performed by some as a protective tool against the fears of a silent but serious condition, whereas others self-monitor simply out of curiosity. People who self-monitored tended not to discuss this with their nurse or GP, partly due to perceiving minimal or no interest from their clinician about home monitoring, and partly due to fear of being prescribed additional medication. The decision to self-monitor appeared often to be an individual choice with no schedule or systems to integrate it with other medical care. Better recognition by clinicians that patients are self-monitoring, perhaps utilising the results in shared decision-making, might help integrate it into daily practice. © British Journal of General Practice 2015.

Accuracy of Automatic Polysomnography Scoring Using Frontal Electrodes

PubMed Central

Younes, Magdy; Younes, Mark; Giannouli, Eleni

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: The economic cost of performing sleep monitoring at home is a major deterrent to adding sleep data during home studies for investigation of sleep apnea and to investigating non-respiratory sleep complaints. Michele Sleep Scoring System (MSS) is a validated automatic system that utilizes central electroencephalography (EEG) derivations and requires minimal editing. We wished to determine if MSS' accuracy is maintained if frontal derivations are used instead. If confirmed, home sleep monitoring would not require home setup or lengthy manual scoring by technologists. Methods: One hundred two polysomnograms (PSGs) previously recorded from patients with assorted sleep disorders were scored using MSS once with central and once with frontal derivations. Total sleep time, sleep/stage R sleep onset latencies, awake time, time in different sleep stages, arousal/awakening index and apnea-hypopnea index were compared. In addition, odds ratio product (ORP), a continuous index of sleep depth/quality (Sleep 2015;38:641–54), was generated for every 30-sec epoch in each PSG and epoch-by-epoch comparison of ORP was performed. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranged from 0.89 to 1.0 for the various sleep variables (0.96 ± 0.03). For epoch-by-epoch comparisons of ORP, ICC was > 0.85 in 96 PSGs. Lower values in the other six PSGs were related to signal artifacts in either derivation. ICC for whole-record average ORP was 0.98. Conclusions: MSS is as accurate with frontal as with central EEG derivations. The use of frontal electrodes along with MSS should make it possible to obtain high-quality sleep data without requiring home setup or lengthy scoring time by expert technologists. Citation: Younes M, Younes M, Giannouli E. Accuracy of automatic polysomnography scoring using frontal electrodes. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(5):735–746. PMID:26951417

WiiPD--an approach for the objective home assessment of Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Synnott, J; Chen, L; Nugent, C D; Moore, G

2011-01-01

This paper introduces WiiPD, an approach to home-based objective assessment of Parkinson's disease. WiiPD aims to make use of the many capabilities of the Nintendo Wii Remote in combination with a number of bespoke data gathering methods to provide a rich and engaging user experience that can capture a wide range of motor and non-motor metrics. In this paper we discuss the architecture of the approach, and provide details of the implementation and testing of the motor-assessment component of the system. Initial results of testing on 6 users indicate that the system is able to differentiate between normal and abnormal motor performance, suggesting that the system has the potential to monitor the motor fluctuations associated with Parkinson's disease.

Automated Technology for In-home Fall Risk Assessment and Detection Sensor System

PubMed Central

Rantz, Marilyn J.; Skubic, Marjorie; Abbott, Carmen; Galambos, Colleen; Pak, Youngju; Ho, Dominic K.C.; Stone, Erik E.; Rui, Liyang; Back, Jessica; Miller, Steven J.

2013-01-01

Falls are a major problem for older adults. A continuous, unobtrusive, environmentally mounted in-home monitoring system that automatically detects when falls have occurred or when the risk of falling is increasing could alert health care providers and family members so they could intervene to improve physical function or mange illnesses that are precipitating falls. Researchers at the University of Missouri (MU)Center for Eldercare and Rehabilitation Technology are testing such sensor systems for fall risk assessment and detection in older adults’ apartments in a senior living community. Initial results comparing ground truth fall risk assessment data and GAITRite gait parameters with gait parameters captured from Mircosoft Kinect and Pulse-Dopplar radar are reported. PMID:23675644

In-home fall risk assessment and detection sensor system.

PubMed

Rantz, Marilyn J; Skubic, Marjorie; Abbott, Carmen; Galambos, Colleen; Pak, Youngju; Ho, Dominic K C; Stone, Erik E; Rui, Liyang; Back, Jessica; Miller, Steven J

2013-07-01

Falls are a major problem in older adults. A continuous, unobtrusive, environmentally mounted (i.e., embedded into the environment and not worn by the individual), in-home monitoring system that automatically detects when falls have occurred or when the risk of falling is increasing could alert health care providers and family members to intervene to improve physical function or manage illnesses that may precipitate falls. Researchers at the University of Missouri Center for Eldercare and Rehabilitation Technology are testing such sensor systems for fall risk assessment (FRA) and detection in older adults' apartments in a senior living community. Initial results comparing ground truth (validated measures) of FRA data and GAITRite System parameters with data captured from Microsoft(®) Kinect and pulse-Doppler radar are reported. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fardy, Paul S.

1987-01-01

Although cardiac rehabilitation has become increasingly popular, only 15 percent of eligible candidates participate in supervised and monitored programs. This article reviews alternative home-based cardiac rehabilitation, discussing types of activities, monitoring, diet, motivation, and coordination with traditional program staff. (Author/MT)

Health management and pattern analysis of daily living activities of people with dementia using in-home sensors and machine learning techniques

PubMed Central

Markides, Andreas; Skillman, Severin; Acton, Sahr Thomas; Elsaleh, Tarek; Hassanpour, Masoud; Ahrabian, Alireza; Kenny, Mark; Klein, Stuart; Rostill, Helen; Nilforooshan, Ramin; Barnaghi, Payam

2018-01-01

The number of people diagnosed with dementia is expected to rise in the coming years. Given that there is currently no definite cure for dementia and the cost of care for this condition soars dramatically, slowing the decline and maintaining independent living are important goals for supporting people with dementia. This paper discusses a study that is called Technology Integrated Health Management (TIHM). TIHM is a technology assisted monitoring system that uses Internet of Things (IoT) enabled solutions for continuous monitoring of people with dementia in their own homes. We have developed machine learning algorithms to analyse the correlation between environmental data collected by IoT technologies in TIHM in order to monitor and facilitate the physical well-being of people with dementia. The algorithms are developed with different temporal granularity to process the data for long-term and short-term analysis. We extract higher-level activity patterns which are then used to detect any change in patients’ routines. We have also developed a hierarchical information fusion approach for detecting agitation, irritability and aggression. We have conducted evaluations using sensory data collected from homes of people with dementia. The proposed techniques are able to recognise agitation and unusual patterns with an accuracy of up to 80%. PMID:29723236

Health management and pattern analysis of daily living activities of people with dementia using in-home sensors and machine learning techniques.

PubMed

Enshaeifar, Shirin; Zoha, Ahmed; Markides, Andreas; Skillman, Severin; Acton, Sahr Thomas; Elsaleh, Tarek; Hassanpour, Masoud; Ahrabian, Alireza; Kenny, Mark; Klein, Stuart; Rostill, Helen; Nilforooshan, Ramin; Barnaghi, Payam

2018-01-01

The number of people diagnosed with dementia is expected to rise in the coming years. Given that there is currently no definite cure for dementia and the cost of care for this condition soars dramatically, slowing the decline and maintaining independent living are important goals for supporting people with dementia. This paper discusses a study that is called Technology Integrated Health Management (TIHM). TIHM is a technology assisted monitoring system that uses Internet of Things (IoT) enabled solutions for continuous monitoring of people with dementia in their own homes. We have developed machine learning algorithms to analyse the correlation between environmental data collected by IoT technologies in TIHM in order to monitor and facilitate the physical well-being of people with dementia. The algorithms are developed with different temporal granularity to process the data for long-term and short-term analysis. We extract higher-level activity patterns which are then used to detect any change in patients' routines. We have also developed a hierarchical information fusion approach for detecting agitation, irritability and aggression. We have conducted evaluations using sensory data collected from homes of people with dementia. The proposed techniques are able to recognise agitation and unusual patterns with an accuracy of up to 80%.

An Open Architecture to Support Social and Health Services in a Smart TV Environment.

PubMed

Costa, Carlos Rivas; Anido-Rifon, Luis E; Fernandez-Iglesias, Manuel J

2017-03-01

To design, implement, and test a solution to provide social and health services for the elderly at home based on smart TV technologies and access to all services. The architecture proposed is based on an open software platform and standard personal computing hardware. This provides great flexibility to develop new applications over the underlying infrastructure or to integrate new devices, for instance to monitor a broad range of vital signs in those cases where home monitoring is required. An actual system as a proof-of-concept was designed, implemented, and deployed. Applications range from social network clients to vital signs monitoring; from interactive TV contests to conventional online care applications such as medication reminders or telemedicine. In both cases, the results have been very positive, confirming the initial perception of the TV as a convenient, easy-to-use technology to provide social and health care. The TV set is a much more familiar computing interface for most senior users, and as a consequence, smart TVs become a most convenient solution for the design and implementation of applications and services targeted to this user group. This proposal has been tested in real setting with 62 senior people at their homes. Users included both individuals with experience using computers and others reluctant to them.

Accuracy and reliability of continuous glucose monitoring systems: a head-to-head comparison.

PubMed

Luijf, Yoeri M; Mader, Julia K; Doll, Werner; Pieber, Thomas; Farret, Anne; Place, Jerome; Renard, Eric; Bruttomesso, Daniela; Filippi, Alessio; Avogaro, Angelo; Arnolds, Sabine; Benesch, Carsten; Heinemann, Lutz; DeVries, J Hans

2013-08-01

This study assessed the accuracy and reliability of three continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems. We studied the Animas® (West Chester, PA) Vibe™ with Dexcom® (San Diego, CA) G4™ version A sensor (G4A), the Abbott Diabetes Care (Alameda, CA) Freestyle® Navigator I (NAV), and the Medtronic (Northridge, CA) Paradigm® with Enlite™ sensor (ENL) in 20 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. All systems were investigated both in a clinical research center (CRC) and at home. In the CRC, patients received a meal with a delayed and increased insulin dose to induce a postprandial glucose peak and nadir. Hereafter, randomization determined which two of the three systems would be worn at home until the end of functioning, attempting use beyond manufacturer-specified lifetime. Patients performed at least five reference finger sticks per day. An analysis of variance was performed on all data points ≥15 min apart. Overall average mean absolute relative difference (MARD) (SD) measured at the CRC was 16.5% (14.3%) for NAV and 16.4% (15.6%) for ENL, outperforming G4A at 20.5% (18.2%) (P<0.001). Overall MARD when assessed at home was 14.5% (16.7%) for NAV and 16.5 (18.8%) for G4A, outperforming ENL at 18.9% (23.6%) (P=0.006). Median time until end of functioning was similar: 10.0 (1.0) days for G4A, 8.0 (3.5) days for NAV, and 8.0 (1.5) days for ENL (P=0.119). In the CRC, G4A was less accurate than NAV and ENL sensors, which seemed comparable. However, at home, ENL was less accurate than NAV and G4A. Moreover, CGM systems often show sufficient accuracy to be used beyond manufacturer-specified lifetime.

Implementation of a wireless sensor network for heart rate monitoring in a senior center.

PubMed

Huang, Jyh-How; Su, Tzu-Yao; Raknim, Paweeya; Lan, Kun-Chan

2015-06-01

Wearable sensor systems are widely used to monitor vital sign in hospitals and in recent years have also been used at home. In this article we present a system that includes a ring probe, sensor, radio, and receiver, designed for use as a long-term heart rate monitoring system in a senior center. The primary contribution of this article is successfully implementing a cheap, large-scale wireless heart rate monitoring system that is stable and comfortable to use 24 h a day. We developed new finger ring sensors for comfortable continuous wearing experience and used dynamic power adjustment on the ring so the sensor can detect pulses at different strength levels. Our system has been deployed in a senior center since May 2012, and 63 seniors have used this system in this period. During the 54-h system observation period, 10 alarms were set off. Eight of them were due to abnormal heart rate, and two of them were due to loose probes. The monitoring system runs stably with the senior center's existing WiFi network, and achieves 99.48% system availability. The managers and caregivers use our system as a reliable warning system for clinical deterioration. The results of the year-long deployment show that the wireless group heart rate monitoring system developed in this work is viable for use within a designated area.

Indoor location-aware medical systems for smart homecare and telehealth monitoring: state-of-the-art.

PubMed

Santoso, Fendy; Redmond, Stephen J

2015-10-01

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of current progress in the application of state-of-the-art indoor positioning systems for telecare and telehealth monitoring. This review is the first in the literature that provides a comprehensive discussion on how existing wireless indoor positioning systems can benefit the development of home-based care systems. More specifically, this review provides an in-depth comparative study of how both system users and medical practitioners can get benefit from indoor positioning technologies; e.g. for real-time monitoring of patients suffering chronic cardiovascular conditions, general monitoring of activities of daily living (ADLs), fall detection systems for the elderly as well as indoor navigation systems for those suffering from visual impairments. Furthermore, it also details various aspects worth considering when choosing a certain technology for a specific healthcare application; e.g. the spatial precision demanded by the application, trade-offs between unobtrusiveness and complexity, and issues surrounding compliance and adherence with the use of wearable tags. Beyond the current state-of-the-art, this review also rigorously discusses several research opportunities and the challenges associated with each.

Monitors Enable Medication Management in Patients' Homes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2014-01-01

Glenn Research Center awarded SBIR funding to ZIN Technologies to develop a platform that could incorporate sensors quantifying an astronaut’s health status and then communicate with the ground. ZIN created a device, developed the system further, and then formed Cleveland-based FlexLife Health to commercialize the technology. Today it is part of an anti-coagulation management system for people with cardiovascular disease.

An Analysis of a Computerized System for Managing Curriculum Decisions and Tracking Student Progress in a Home-Based Pre-School Education Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lutz, John E.; And Others

The degree of success of the computerized Child-Based Information System (CBIS) was analyzed in two areas--presenting, delivering, and managing a developmental curriculum; and recording, filing, and monitoring child tracking data, including requirements for Individualized Education Plans (IEP's). Preschool handicapped and high-risk children and…

Engine condition monitoring: CF6 family 60's through the 80's

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kent, H. J.; Dienger, G.

1981-01-01

The on condition program is described in terms of its effectiveness as a maintenance tool both at the line station as well as at home base by the early detection of engine faults, erroneous instrumentation signals and by verification of engine health. The system encompasses all known methods from manual procedures to the fully automated airborne integrated data system.

Effects on carbon monoxide levels in mobile homes using unvented kerosene heaters for residential heating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, R.; Walsh, D.; White, J.

1992-01-01

Carbon monoxide (CO) emission levels were continuously monitored in 8 mobile trailer homes less than 10 years old. These homes were monitored in an US EPA study on indoor air quality as affected by unvented portable kerosene heaters. Respondents were asked to operate their heaters in a normal fashion. CO, air exchange and temperature values were measured during the study in each home. Results indicate that consumers using unvented kerosene heaters may be unknowingly exposed to high CO levels without taking proper precautions.

Optimizing Antibiotic Use in Nursing Homes Through Antibiotic Stewardship.

PubMed

Sloane, Philip D; Huslage, Kirk; Kistler, Christine E; Zimmerman, Sheryl

2016-01-01

Antibiotic stewardship is becoming a requirement for nursing homes. Programs should be interdisciplinary and multifaceted; should have support from nursing home administrators; and should aim to promote antibiotics only when needed, not just in case. Recommended components include use of evidence-based guidelines; ongoing monitoring of antibiotic prescriptions, cultures, and study results; monitoring of health outcomes; use of nursing home-specific antibiograms; regular reporting and feedback to medical providers and nurses; and education of residents and families. ©2016 by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and The Duke Endowment. All rights reserved.

A flexible home monitoring platform for patients affected by chronic heart failure directly integrated with the remote Hospital Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donati, Massimiliano; Bacchillone, Tony; Saponara, Sergio; Fanucci, Luca

2011-05-01

Today Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) represents one of leading cause of hospitalization among chronic disease, especially for elderly citizens, with a consequent considerable impact on patient quality of life, resources congestion and healthcare costs for the National Sanitary System. The current healthcare model is mostly in-hospital based and consists of periodic visits, but unfortunately it does not allow to promptly detect exacerbations resulting in a large number of rehospitalization. Recently physicians and administrators identify telemonitoring systems as a strategy able to provide effective and cost efficient healthcare services for CHF patients, ensuring early diagnosis and treatments in case of necessity. This work presents a complete and integrated ICT solution to improve the management of chronic heart failure through the remote monitoring of vital signs at patient home, able to connect in-hospital care of acute syndrome with out-of-hospital follow-up. The proposed platform represents the patient's interface, acting as link between biomedical sensors and the data collection point at the Hospital Information System (HIS) in order to handle in transparent way the reception, analysis and forwarding of the main physiological parameters.

Fall Risk Assessment and Early-Warning for Toddler Behaviors at Home

PubMed Central

Yang, Mau-Tsuen; Chuang, Min-Wen

2013-01-01

Accidental falls are the major cause of serious injuries in toddlers, with most of these falls happening at home. Instead of providing immediate fall detection based on short-term observations, this paper proposes an early-warning childcare system to monitor fall-prone behaviors of toddlers at home. Using 3D human skeleton tracking and floor plane detection based on depth images captured by a Kinect system, eight fall-prone behavioral modules of toddlers are developed and organized according to four essential criteria: posture, motion, balance, and altitude. The final fall risk assessment is generated by a multi-modal fusion using either a weighted mean thresholding or a support vector machine (SVM) classification. Optimizations are performed to determine local parameter in each module and global parameters of the multi-modal fusion. Experimental results show that the proposed system can assess fall risks and trigger alarms with an accuracy rate of 92% at a speed of 20 frames per second. PMID:24335727

Fall risk assessment and early-warning for toddler behaviors at home.

PubMed

Yang, Mau-Tsuen; Chuang, Min-Wen

2013-12-10

Accidental falls are the major cause of serious injuries in toddlers, with most of these falls happening at home. Instead of providing immediate fall detection based on short-term observations, this paper proposes an early-warning childcare system to monitor fall-prone behaviors of toddlers at home. Using 3D human skeleton tracking and floor plane detection based on depth images captured by a Kinect system, eight fall-prone behavioral modules of toddlers are developed and organized according to four essential criteria: posture, motion, balance, and altitude. The final fall risk assessment is generated by a multi-modal fusion using either a weighted mean thresholding or a support vector machine (SVM) classification. Optimizations are performed to determine local parameter in each module and global parameters of the multi-modal fusion. Experimental results show that the proposed system can assess fall risks and trigger alarms with an accuracy rate of 92% at a speed of 20 frames per second.

Bridging the Self-care Deficit Gap: Remote Patient Monitoring and the Hospital-at-Home

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cafazzo, Joseph A.; Leonard, Kevin; Easty, Anthony C.; Rossos, Peter G.; Chan, Christopher T.

This study examines the use of a remote patient monitoring intervention to address the challenge of patient self-care in complex hospital-at-home therapies. It was shown that in a home hemodialysis patient group, remote patient monitoring facilitated self-care and was supported by patients and, in particular, family caregivers. This does not come without cost to the patient however, who now has greater personal responsibility and accountability for their health management. Promising results from this study indicate that most patients are willing to assume this cost in exchange for the possibility of improved health outcomes.

Comparison of 5 reflectance meters for capillary blood glucose determination.

PubMed

Kolopp, M; Louis, J; Pointel, J P; Kohler, F; Drouin, P; Debry, G

1983-03-01

Manufacturing quality, accuracy and users opinion (i.e. medical and nurses staff and patients) were compared among five Destrostix reading reflectance-meters for home-blood-glucose-monitoring. Two machines (dextrometer and glucometer) equipped with microprocessors, integrated circuits and good quality wiring are best made. Reflectance-meter capillary blood glucose measurements were found to be accurate enough for home-blood-glucose-monitoring, compared to a reference method. However, two machines from the same brand were different in blood glucose accuracy. Glucocheck had poorest results. Users prefer small sized, battery powered machines. Glucometer appears to be best suited to home-blood-glucose-monitoring.

Lost and misplaced items and assistive devices in nursing homes: Identifying problems and technological opportunities through participatory design research.

PubMed

Oude Weernink, C E; Sweegers, L; Relou, L; van der Zijpp, T J; van Hoof, J

2018-02-06

Modern healthcare, including nursing home care, goes together with the use of technologies to support treatment, the provision of care and daily activities. The challenges concerning the implementation of such technologies are numerous. One of these emerging technologies are location technologies (RTLS or Real-Time Location Systems). that can be utilized in the nursing home for monitoring the use and location of assets. This paper describes a participatory design study of RTLS based on context mapping, conducted in two nursing home organizations. Rather than investigating the technological possibilities, this study investigates the needs and wishes from the perspective of the care professional. The study identified semantic themes that relate to the practicalities of lost and misplaced items in the nursing home, as well as latent themes that cover the wishes regarding technology in the nursing homes. The organizational culture and building typology may play a role in losing items. The participants in this study indicated that RTLS can provide a solution to some of the challenges that they encounter in the workplace. However, the implementation of new technologies should be done with care and should be integrated into existing ICT systems in order to minimize additional training and posing a burden on the workload.

Lost and misplaced items and assistive devices in nursing homes: Identifying problems and technological opportunities through participatory design research

PubMed Central

Oude Weernink, C.E.; Sweegers, L.; Relou, L.; van der Zijpp, T.J.; van Hoof, J.

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Modern healthcare, including nursing home care, goes together with the use of technologies to support treatment, the provision of care and daily activities. The challenges concerning the implementation of such technologies are numerous. One of these emerging technologies are location technologies (RTLS or Real-Time Location Systems). that can be utilized in the nursing home for monitoring the use and location of assets. METHODOLOGY: This paper describes a participatory design study of RTLS based on context mapping, conducted in two nursing home organizations. Rather than investigating the technological possibilities, this study investigates the needs and wishes from the perspective of the care professional. RESULTS: The study identified semantic themes that relate to the practicalities of lost and misplaced items in the nursing home, as well as latent themes that cover the wishes regarding technology in the nursing homes. The organizational culture and building typology may play a role in losing items. CONCLUSION: The participants in this study indicated that RTLS can provide a solution to some of the challenges that they encounter in the workplace. However, the implementation of new technologies should be done with care and should be integrated into existing ICT systems in order to minimize additional training and posing a burden on the workload. PMID:29527110

Passive RFID Localisation Framework in Smart Homes Healthcare Settings.

PubMed

Alsinglawi, Belal; Liu, Tony; Nguyen, Quang Vinh; Gunawardana, Upul; Maeder, Anthony; Simoff, Simeon

2016-01-01

In recent years, Smart Homes have become a solution to benefit impaired individuals and elderly in their daily life settings. In healthcare applications, pervasive technologies have enabled the practicality of personal monitoring using Indoor positioning technologies. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is a promising technology, which is useful for non-invasive tracking of activities of daily living. Many implementations have focused on using battery-enabled tags like in RFID active tags, which require frequent maintenance and they are costly. Other systems can use wearable sensors requiring individuals to wear tags which may be inappropriate for elders. Successful implementations of a tracking system are dependent on multiple considerations beyond the physical performance of the solution, such as affordability and human acceptance. This paper presents a localisation framework using passive RFID sensors. It aims to provide a low cost solution for subject location in Smart Homes healthcare.

A mobile cloud-based Parkinson's disease assessment system for home-based monitoring.

PubMed

Pan, Di; Dhall, Rohit; Lieberman, Abraham; Petitti, Diana B

2015-03-26

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most prevalent movement disorder of the central nervous system, and affects more than 6.3 million people in the world. The characteristic motor features include tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and impaired postural stability. Current therapy based on augmentation or replacement of dopamine is designed to improve patients' motor performance but often leads to levodopa-induced adverse effects, such as dyskinesia and motor fluctuation. Clinicians must regularly monitor patients in order to identify these effects and other declines in motor function as soon as possible. Current clinical assessment for Parkinson's is subjective and mostly conducted by brief observations made during patient visits. Changes in patients' motor function between visits are hard to track and clinicians are not able to make the most informed decisions about the course of therapy without frequent visits. Frequent clinic visits increase the physical and economic burden on patients and their families. In this project, we sought to design, develop, and evaluate a prototype mobile cloud-based mHealth app, "PD Dr", which collects quantitative and objective information about PD and would enable home-based assessment and monitoring of major PD symptoms. We designed and developed a mobile app on the Android platform to collect PD-related motion data using the smartphone 3D accelerometer and to send the data to a cloud service for storage, data processing, and PD symptoms severity estimation. To evaluate this system, data from the system were collected from 40 patients with PD and compared with experts' rating on standardized rating scales. The evaluation showed that PD Dr could effectively capture important motion features that differentiate PD severity and identify critical symptoms. For hand resting tremor detection, the sensitivity was .77 and accuracy was .82. For gait difficulty detection, the sensitivity was .89 and accuracy was .81. In PD severity estimation, the captured motion features also demonstrated strong correlation with PD severity stage, hand resting tremor severity, and gait difficulty. The system is simple to use, user friendly, and economically affordable. The key contribution of this study was building a mobile PD assessment and monitoring system to extend current PD assessment based in the clinic setting to the home-based environment. The results of this study proved feasibility and a promising future for utilizing mobile technology in PD management.

A Mobile Cloud-Based Parkinson’s Disease Assessment System for Home-Based Monitoring

PubMed Central

Petitti, Diana B

2015-01-01

Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most prevalent movement disorder of the central nervous system, and affects more than 6.3 million people in the world. The characteristic motor features include tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and impaired postural stability. Current therapy based on augmentation or replacement of dopamine is designed to improve patients’ motor performance but often leads to levodopa-induced adverse effects, such as dyskinesia and motor fluctuation. Clinicians must regularly monitor patients in order to identify these effects and other declines in motor function as soon as possible. Current clinical assessment for Parkinson’s is subjective and mostly conducted by brief observations made during patient visits. Changes in patients’ motor function between visits are hard to track and clinicians are not able to make the most informed decisions about the course of therapy without frequent visits. Frequent clinic visits increase the physical and economic burden on patients and their families. Objective In this project, we sought to design, develop, and evaluate a prototype mobile cloud-based mHealth app, “PD Dr”, which collects quantitative and objective information about PD and would enable home-based assessment and monitoring of major PD symptoms. Methods We designed and developed a mobile app on the Android platform to collect PD-related motion data using the smartphone 3D accelerometer and to send the data to a cloud service for storage, data processing, and PD symptoms severity estimation. To evaluate this system, data from the system were collected from 40 patients with PD and compared with experts’ rating on standardized rating scales. Results The evaluation showed that PD Dr could effectively capture important motion features that differentiate PD severity and identify critical symptoms. For hand resting tremor detection, the sensitivity was .77 and accuracy was .82. For gait difficulty detection, the sensitivity was .89 and accuracy was .81. In PD severity estimation, the captured motion features also demonstrated strong correlation with PD severity stage, hand resting tremor severity, and gait difficulty. The system is simple to use, user friendly, and economically affordable. Conclusions The key contribution of this study was building a mobile PD assessment and monitoring system to extend current PD assessment based in the clinic setting to the home-based environment. The results of this study proved feasibility and a promising future for utilizing mobile technology in PD management. PMID:25830687

Long-Term Home Study on Nocturnal Hypoglycemic Alarms Using a New Fully Implantable Continuous Glucose Monitoring System in Type 1 Diabetes.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaolin; Ioacara, Sorin; DeHennis, Andrew

2015-11-01

This study analyzed the overall nocturnal performance during home use of a long-term subcutaneous implantable continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensor. In this study, 12 subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) (mean±SD age, 37±8 years; mean±SD disease duration, 11±6 years) were implanted with an investigational continuous glucose sensor in the upper arm for up to 90 days. All subjects received full access to real-time glucose display and user programmable hypo- and hyperglycemic alarms. Subjects calibrated the sensors with a self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) meter and continued to rely on their regular SMBG measurements for their diabetes management. Accuracy of the sensors during the home-use study was calculated using SMBG as the reference. The nocturnal sensor attenuation (NSA) concept was tested. Sensitivity and specificity of the nocturnal hypoglycemic alarm were calculated. Mean±SD glucose sensor life span was 87±7 days. The mean±SE absolute relative difference over the range of 40-400 mg/dL for the sensors in this home-use study was 12.3±0.7% using SMBG as the reference. The hypoglycemia alarms were set to be triggered when the glucose level went below 70 mg/dL. Percentage of nights with hypoglycemic alarms triggered for at least 10 min was 13.6%. Recovery into euglycemia within 30 min from the timestamp of the immediate confirmatory SMBG testing was obtained in 74% of all episodes (n=20). The implanted continuous glucose sensor showed a hypoglycemia detection sensitivity and specificity of 77% and 96%, respectively. The NSA-associated high negative rate of change of at least -4 mg/dL/min was not encountered during night use of the system. This home-use study of a fully implantable, long-term continuous glucose sensor shows excellent performance in nocturnal hypoglycemia detection in T1DM patients. The apparent lack of NSA affecting the implanted sensor and the high specificity of the hypoglycemic alarm expedite the recovery from nighttime hypoglycemia.

A QUALITATIVE APPROACH IN COMPLIANCE MONITORING OF MICROORGANISMS AND EVALUATION OF BIOSOLIDS RISK MANAGEMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Municipal wastewaters receive discharges from homes, commercial establishments, industry and hospitals. Combined sewer systems carry waste from all the above sources as well as storm water. Within such mixtures are the microorganisms which reside in virtually all parts of the s...

Maximizing the Independence of Deaf-Blind Teenagers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venn, J. J.; Wadler, F.

1990-01-01

The Independent Living Project for Deaf/Blind Youth emphasized the teaching of home management, personal management, social/emotional skills, work skills, and communication skills to increase low-functioning teenagers' autonomy. The project included an independent living apartment in which a video monitoring system was used for indirect…

Time Out-of-Home and Cognitive, Physical, and Emotional Wellbeing of Older Adults: A Longitudinal Mixed Effects Model

PubMed Central

Petersen, Johanna

2015-01-01

Background Time out-of-home has been linked with numerous health outcomes, including cognitive decline, poor physical ability and low emotional state. Comprehensive characterization of this important health metric would potentially enable objective monitoring of key health outcomes. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between time out-of-home and cognitive status, physical ability and emotional state. Methods and Findings Participants included 85 independent older adults, age 65–96 years (M = 86.36; SD = 6.79) who lived alone, from the Intelligent Systems for Assessing Aging Changes (ISAAC) and the ORCATECH Life Laboratory cohorts. Factors hypothesized to affect time out-of-home were assessed on three different temporal levels: yearly (cognitive status, loneliness, clinical walking speed), weekly (pain and mood) or daily (time out-of-home, in-home walking speed, weather, and season). Subject characteristics including age, race, and gender were assessed at baseline. Total daily time out-of-home in hours was assessed objectively and unobtrusively for up to one year using an in-home activity sensor platform. A longitudinal tobit mixed effects regression model was used to relate daily time out-of-home to cognitive status, physical ability and emotional state. More hours spend outside the home was associated with better cognitive function as assessed using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale, where higher scores indicate lower cognitive function (β CDR = -1.69, p<0.001). More hours outside the home was also associated with superior physical ability (β Pain = -0.123, p<0.001) and improved emotional state (β Lonely = -0.046, p<0.001; β Low mood = -0.520, p<0.001). Weather, season, and weekday also affected the daily time out-of-home. Conclusions These results suggest that objective longitudinal monitoring of time out-of-home may enable unobtrusive assessment of cognitive, physical and emotional state. In addition, these results indicate that the factors affecting out-of-home behavior are complex, with factors such as living environment, weather and season significantly affecting time out-of-home. Studies investigating the relationship between time out-of-home and health outcomes may be optimized by taking into account the environment and life factors presented here. PMID:26437228

Recommendations Service for Chronic Disease Patient in Multimodel Sensors Home Environment

PubMed Central

Hussain, Maqbool; Ali, Taqdir; Khan, Wajahat Ali; Afzal, Muhammad; Latif, Khalid

2015-01-01

Abstract With advanced technologies in hand, there exist potential applications and services built around monitoring activities of daily living (ADL) of elderly people at nursing homes. Most of the elderly people in these facilities are suffering from different chronic diseases such as dementia. Existing technologies are mainly focusing on non-medication interventions and monitoring of ADL for addressing loss of autonomy or well-being. Monitoring and managing ADL related to cognitive behaviors for non-medication intervention are very effective in improving dementia patients' conditions. However, cognitive functions of patients can be improved if appropriate recommendations of medications are delivered at a particular time. Previously we developed the Secured Wireless Sensor Network Integrated Cloud Computing for Ubiquitous-Life Care (SC3). SC3 services were limited to monitoring ADL of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease and providing non-medication recommendations to the patient. In this article, we propose a system called the Smart Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) as an integral part of the SC3 platform. Using the Smart CDSS, patients are provided with access to medication recommendations of expert physicians. Physicians are provided with an interface to create clinical knowledge for medication recommendations and to observe the patient's condition. The clinical knowledge created by physicians as the knowledge base of the Smart CDSS produces recommendations to the caregiver for medications based on each patient's symptoms. PMID:25559934

Recommendations service for chronic disease patient in multimodel sensors home environment.

PubMed

Hussain, Maqbool; Ali, Taqdir; Khan, Wajahat Ali; Afzal, Muhammad; Lee, Sungyoung; Latif, Khalid

2015-03-01

With advanced technologies in hand, there exist potential applications and services built around monitoring activities of daily living (ADL) of elderly people at nursing homes. Most of the elderly people in these facilities are suffering from different chronic diseases such as dementia. Existing technologies are mainly focusing on non-medication interventions and monitoring of ADL for addressing loss of autonomy or well-being. Monitoring and managing ADL related to cognitive behaviors for non-medication intervention are very effective in improving dementia patients' conditions. However, cognitive functions of patients can be improved if appropriate recommendations of medications are delivered at a particular time. Previously we developed the Secured Wireless Sensor Network Integrated Cloud Computing for Ubiquitous-Life Care (SC(3)). SC(3) services were limited to monitoring ADL of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease and providing non-medication recommendations to the patient. In this article, we propose a system called the Smart Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) as an integral part of the SC(3) platform. Using the Smart CDSS, patients are provided with access to medication recommendations of expert physicians. Physicians are provided with an interface to create clinical knowledge for medication recommendations and to observe the patient's condition. The clinical knowledge created by physicians as the knowledge base of the Smart CDSS produces recommendations to the caregiver for medications based on each patient's symptoms.

Technologies for an aging society: a systematic review of "smart home" applications.

PubMed

Demiris, G; Hensel, B K

2008-01-01

A "smart home" is a residence wired with technology features that monitor the well-being and activities of their residents to improve overall quality of life, increase independence and prevent emergencies. This type of informatics applications targeting older adults, people with disabilities or the general population is increasingly becoming the focus of research worldwide. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of health related smart home projects and discuss human factors and other challenges. To cover not only the medical but also the social sciences and electronics literature, we conducted extensive searches across disciplines (e.g., Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Electronics and Communications Abstracts, Web of Science etc.). In order to be inclusive of all new initiatives and efforts in this area given the innovativeness of the concept, we manually searched for relevant references in the retrieved articles as well as published books on smart homes and gerontechnology. A total of 114 publications (including papers, abstracts and web pages) were identified and reviewed to identify the overarching projects. Twenty one smart home projects were identified (71% of the projects include technologies for functional monitoring, 67% for safety monitoring, 47% for physiological monitoring, 43% for cognitive support or sensory aids, 19% for monitoring security and 19% to increase social interaction). Evidence for their impact on clinical outcomes is lacking. The field of smart homes is a growing informatics domain. Several challenges including not only technical but also ethical ones need to be addressed.

A Web site-based reporting system for monitoring home treatment during oral immunotherapy for food allergy.

PubMed

Nachshon, Liat; Goldberg, Michael R; Elizur, Arnon; Levy, Michael B; Schwartz, Naama; Katz, Yitzhak

2015-06-01

Reactions during the home treatment phase of oral immunotherapy (OIT) are not uncommon. An ongoing accurate reporting of home treatment outcomes is crucial for the safety and success of OIT. Previous reports have shown that as few as 20% of patients are truly compliant with paper-based diaries. To develop a Web site-based electronic reporting system (web-RS) for monitoring home treatment during OIT for food allergy. A web-RS was developed and incorporated a thorough questionnaire querying for pertinent data including the dose(s) consumed, occurrence and details of adverse reactions, treatment(s), and relevant potential exacerbating factors. All patients enrolled in milk, peanut, or egg OIT programs for at least 4 weeks from November 2012 through January 2014 were introduced to web-RS (n = 157). Successful reporting through web-RS was defined by consecutive reporting during the first home treatment phase (24 days) after its introduction. Comparisons were made with a previous group of OIT-treated patients (n = 100) who reported by E-mail. Successful reporting was achieved by 142 of 157 patients (90.44%) in contrast to a 75% success rate with E-mail (P = .0009). The odds for successful reporting using web-RS were 3.1 (95% confidence interval 1.6-6.3) times higher compared with using E-mail. Mild reactions were reported more frequently with web-RS (P = .0032). Patient reports were constantly available in real time for medical staff review. No complaints regarding web-RS feasibility were reported. One risk factor for failure to use web-RS was a patient's prior successful OIT experience without using web-RS (P = .012). A web-RS can be a powerful tool for improving OIT safety by achieving a high level of patient cooperation in reporting home treatment results. Copyright © 2015 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Respiratory Monitoring System Using a Flow Microsensor and an Accelerometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellal, Idir; Laghrouche, Mourad; Bui, Hung Tien

2017-04-01

This paper describes a non-invasive system for respiratory monitoring using a Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) flow sensor and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) accelerometer. The designed system is intended to be wearable and used in a hospital or at home to assist people with respiratory disorders. To ensure the accuracy of our system, we proposed a calibration method based on ANN (Artificial Neural Network) to compensate the temperature drift of the silicon flow sensor. The sigmoid activation functions used in the ANN model were computed with the CORDIC (COordinate Rotation DIgital Computer) algorithm. This algorithm was also used to estimate the tilt angle in body position. The design was implemented on reconfigurable platform FPGA.

Home monitoring and decision support for international liver transplant children.

PubMed

Song, Bianying; Schulze, Mareike; Goldschmidt, Imeke; Haux, Reinhold; Baumann, Ulrich; Marschollek, Michael

2013-01-01

Complications may occur after a liver transplantation, therefore proper monitoring and care in the post-operation phase plays a very important role. Sometimes, monitoring and care for patients from abroad is difficult due to a variety of reasons, e.g., different care facilities. The objective of our research for this paper is to design, implement and evaluate a home monitoring and decision support infrastructure for international children who underwent liver transplant operation. A point-of-care device and the PedsQL questionnaire were used in patients' home environment for measuring the blood parameters and assessing quality of life. By using a tablet PC and a specially developed software, the measured results were able to be transmitted to the health care providers via internet. So far, the developed infrastructure has been evaluated with four international patients/families transferring 38 records of blood test. The evaluation showed that the home monitoring and decision support infrastructure is technically feasible and is able to give timely alarm in case of abnormal situation as well as may increase parent's feeling of safety for their children.

Mini-Split Heat Pump Evaluation and Zero Energy Ready Home Support

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Herk, Anastasia

This project was created from a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Building America research team IBACOS, Inc. and Imagine Homes, a production homebuilder of high-performance homes in San Antonio, Texas—a hot-humid climate. The primary purpose was to evaluate the performance of a multihead mini-split heat pump (MSHP) space-conditioning system, which consists of ducted and ductless indoor units, in maintaining uniform comfort in an occupied test house. The research team evaluated the MSHP space-conditioning strategy for its effectiveness in achieving uniform temperature and relative humidity (RH) levels throughout the test house and for overall constructability and cost. Thismore » evaluation was based on data that were collected from short-term tests and monitoring during 1 year of occupancy, as well as from builder and occupant feedback. Design considerations for integrating an MSHP system into the builder’s full range of production home designs were also explored, with a focus on minimizing the cost and complexity of the system design while meeting the thermal loads of the house and providing occupant comfort according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 (ASHRAE 2010a).« less

The Care management Information system for the home Care Network (SI GESCAD): support for care coordination and continuity of care in the Brazilian Unified health system (SUS).

PubMed

Pires, Maria Raquel Gomes Maia; Gottems, Leila Bernarda Donato; Vasconcelos Filho, José Eurico; Silva, Kênia Lara; Gamarski, Ricardo

2015-06-01

The present article describes the development of the initial version of the Brazilian Care Management Information System for the Home Care Network (SI GESCAD). This system was created to enhance comprehensive care, care coordination and the continuity of care provided to the patients, family and caretakers of the Home Care (HC) program. We also present a reflection on the contributions, limitations and possibilities of the SI GESCAD within the scope of the Home Care Network of the Brazilian Unified Health System (RAS-AD). This was a study on technology production based on a multi-method protocol. It discussed software engineering and human-computer interaction (HCI) based on user-centered design, as well as evolutionary and interactive software process (prototyping and spiral). A functional prototype of the GESCAD was finalized, which allowed for the management of HC to take into consideration the patient's social context, family and caretakers. The system also proved to help in the management of activities of daily living (ADLs), clinical care and the monitoring of variables associated with type 2 HC. The SI GESCAD allowed for a more horizontal work process for HC teams at the RAS-AD/SUS level of care, with positive repercussions on care coordination and continuity of care.

Cost-effectiveness of home telemedical cardiotocography compared with traditional outpatient monitoring.

PubMed

Tõrõk, M; Kovács, F; Doszpod, J

2000-01-01

We compared the cost of passive sensor telemedical non-stress cardiotocography performed at home and the same test performed by traditional equipment in an outpatient clinic in the Budapest area. The costs were calculated using two years' registered budget data from the home monitoring service in Budapest and the outpatient clinic of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Haynal Imre University of Health Sciences. The traditional test at the university outpatient clinic cost 3652 forint for the health-care and 1000 forint in additional expenses for the patient (travel and time off work). This means that the total cost for each test in the clinic was 4652 forint. The cost of home telemedical cardiotocography was 1500 forint per test, but each test took 2.1 times as long. For a more realistic comparison between the two methods, we adjusted the cost to take account of the extra length of time that home monitoring required. The adjusted cost for home care was 3150 forint, some 32% lower than in the clinic. Passive sensor telemedical non-stress cardiotocography at home was therefore less expensive than the same test performed in the traditional way in an outpatient clinic.

Wrist ambulatory monitoring system and smart glove for real time emotional, sensorial and physiological analysis.

PubMed

Axisa, F; Gehin, C; Delhomme, G; Collet, C; Robin, O; Dittmar, A

2004-01-01

Improvement of the quality and efficiency of the quality of health in medicine, at home and in hospital becomes more and more important Designed to be user-friendly, smart clothes and gloves fit well for such a citizen use and health monitoring. Analysis of the autonomic nervous system using non-invasive sensors provides information for the emotional, sensorial, cognitive and physiological analysis. MARSIAN (modular autonomous recorder system for the measurement of autonomic nervous system) is a wrist ambulatory monitoring and recording system with a smart glove with sensors for the detection of the activity of the autonomic nervous system. It is composed of a "smart tee shirt", a "smart glove", a wrist device and PC which records data. The smart glove is one of the key point of MARSIAN. Complex movements, complex geometry, sensation make smart glove designing a challenge. MARSIAN has a large field of applications and researches (vigilance, behaviour, sensorial analysis, thermal environment for human, cognition science, sport, etc...) in various fields like neurophysiology, affective computing and health monitoring.

The economic costs of routine INR monitoring in infants and children--examining point-of-care devices used within the home setting compared to traditional anticoagulation clinic monitoring.

PubMed

Gaw, James R; Crowley, Steven; Monagle, Paul; Jones, Sophie; Newall, Fiona

2013-07-01

The use of point-of-care (POC) devices within the home for routine INR monitoring has demonstrated reliability, safety and effectiveness in the management of infants and children requiring long-term warfarin therapy. However, a comprehensive cost-analysis of using this method of management, compared to attending anticoagulation clinics has not been reported. The aim of this study was to compare the estimated societal costs of attending anticoagulation clinics for routine INR monitoring to using a POC test in the home. This study used a comparative before-and-after design that included 60 infants and children managed via the Haematology department at a tertiary paediatric centre. Each participant was exposed to both modes of management at various times for a period of ≥3 months. A questionnaire, consisting of 25 questions was sent to families to complete and return. Data collected included: the frequency of monitoring, mode of travel to and from clinics, total time consumed, and primary carer's income level. The home monitoring cohort saved a total of 1 hour 19 minutes per INR test compared to attending anticoagulation clinics and had a cost saving to society of $66.83 (AUD) per INR test compared to traditional care; incorporating health sector costs, travel expenses and lost time. The traditional model of care requires a considerable investment of time per test from both child and carer. Home INR monitoring in infants and children provides greater societal economic benefits compared to traditional models. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urea biosensor for hemodialysis monitoring

DOEpatents

Glass, R.S.

1999-01-12

This research discloses an electrochemical sensor capable of detecting and quantifying urea in fluids resulting from hemodialysis procedures. The sensor is based upon measurement of the pH change produced in an aqueous environment by the products of the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of urea. The sensor may be fabricated using methods amenable to mass fabrication, resulting in low-cost sensors and thus providing the potential for disposable use. In a typical application, the sensor could be used in treatment centers, in conjunction with an appropriate electronics/computer system, in order to determine the hemodialysis endpoint. The sensor can also be utilized to allow at-home testing to determine if dialysis was necessary. Such a home monitor is similar, in principle, to devices used for blood glucose testing by diabetics, and would require a blood droplet sample by using a finger prick. 9 figs.

New OTC drugs and devices 2003: a selective review.

PubMed

Newton, Gail D; Pray, W Steven; Popovich, Nicholas G

2004-01-01

To present current information about trends development and marketing of over-the-counter (OTC) medications and dietary supplement products and describe new products, delivery systems, home monitoring devices, and home accessories in these markets that are likely generating questions from or posing potential problems for patients. Recently published clinical and pharmaceutical industry literature. By the authors. By the authors. Last year witnessed the first effort of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove a dietary supplement from the U.S. market. Ephedra, because of its imminent danger when used for weight reduction and athletic enhancement, was the target of FDA action. FDA has issued a final rule implementing this ban, which prohibits the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids (e.g., ephedra). Two newer diet-aid products are being actively promoted with little or no safety and effectiveness data. Thus, pharmacist's vigilance is important along with sensible advice on how to lose weight safely and effectively. Further, two independent organizations have created certification programs for dietary supplements that ensure product purity, active ingredient strength, and compliance with good manufacturing practices. In addition, through recent changes in federal legislation, consumers are now able to obtain reimbursement for their nonprescription purchases through flexible spending accounts. Information is presented in this article about selected products in these OTC, home care, and dietary supplement categories: heartburn (proton pump inhibitors), allergy (second-generation antihistamines), constipation (laxatives), diabetes mellitus (blood glucose monitoring systems), home testing (fertility monitoring), nicotine addiction (smoking cessation products), otic disorders (ear syringes), contraceptives and sexual aids (condoms and lubricants), and dermatology (wart removal). Patients continue to increase their reliance on self-care. To assist them, pharmacists must remain up-to-date on trends and have an understanding of the nuances of consumers' behavior and thinking in relation to OTC products and their use.

Nursing Home Price and Quality Responses to Publicly Reported Quality Information

PubMed Central

Clement, Jan P; Bazzoli, Gloria J; Zhao, Mei

2012-01-01

Objective To assess whether the release of Nursing Home Compare (NHC) data affected self-pay per diem prices and quality of care. Data Sources Primary data sources are the Annual Survey of Wisconsin Nursing Homes for 2001–2003, Online Survey and Certification Reporting System, NHC, and Area Resource File. Study Design We estimated fixed effects models with robust standard errors of per diem self-pay charge and quality before and after NHC. Principal Findings After NHC, low-quality nursing homes raised their prices by a small but significant amount and decreased their use of restraints but did not reduce pressure sores. Mid-level and high-quality nursing homes did not significantly increase self-pay prices after NHC nor consistently change quality. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the release of quality information affected nursing home behavior, especially pricing and quality decisions among low-quality facilities. Policy makers should continue to monitor quality and prices for self-pay residents and scrutinize low-quality homes over time to see whether they are on a pathway to improve quality. In addition, policy makers should not expect public reporting to result in quick fixes to nursing home quality problems. PMID:22092366

Electromagnetic Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted from GSM Mobile Phones Decreases the Accuracy of Home Blood Glucose Monitors

PubMed Central

Mortazavi, SMJ; Gholampour, M; Haghani, M; Mortazavi, G; Mortazavi, AR

2014-01-01

Mobile phones are two-way radios that emit electromagnetic radiation in microwave range. As the number of mobile phone users has reached 6 billion, the bioeffects of exposure to mobile phone radiation and mobile phone electromagnetic interference with electronic equipment have received more attention, globally. As self-monitoring of blood glucose can be a beneficial part of diabetes control, home blood glucose testing kits are very popular. The main goal of this study was to investigate if radiofrequency radiation emitted from a common GSM mobile phone can alter the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. Forty five female nondiabetic students aged 17-20 years old participated in this study. For Control-EMF group (30 students), blood glucose concentration for each individual was measured in presence and absence of radiofrequency radiation emitted by a common GSM mobile phone (HTC touch, Diamond 2) while the phone was ringing. For Control- Repeat group (15 students), two repeated measurements were performed for each participant in the absence of electromagnetic fields. The magnitude of the changes between glucose levels in two repeated measurements (|ΔC|) in Control-Repeat group was 1.07 ± 0.88 mg/dl while this magnitude for Control-EMF group was 7.53 ± 4.76 mg/dl (P < 0.001, two-tailed test). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the electromagnetic interference in home blood glucose monitors. It can be concluded that electromagnetic interference from mobile phones has an adverse effect on the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. We suggest that mobile phones should be used at least 50 cm away from home blood glucose monitors. PMID:25505778

Electromagnetic Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted from GSM Mobile Phones Decreases the Accuracy of Home Blood Glucose Monitors.

PubMed

Mortazavi, Smj; Gholampour, M; Haghani, M; Mortazavi, G; Mortazavi, Ar

2014-09-01

Mobile phones are two-way radios that emit electromagnetic radiation in microwave range. As the number of mobile phone users has reached 6 billion, the bioeffects of exposure to mobile phone radiation and mobile phone electromagnetic interference with electronic equipment have received more attention, globally. As self-monitoring of blood glucose can be a beneficial part of diabetes control, home blood glucose testing kits are very popular. The main goal of this study was to investigate if radiofrequency radiation emitted from a common GSM mobile phone can alter the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. Forty five female nondiabetic students aged 17-20 years old participated in this study. For Control-EMF group (30 students), blood glucose concentration for each individual was measured in presence and absence of radiofrequency radiation emitted by a common GSM mobile phone (HTC touch, Diamond 2) while the phone was ringing. For Control- Repeat group (15 students), two repeated measurements were performed for each participant in the absence of electromagnetic fields. The magnitude of the changes between glucose levels in two repeated measurements (|ΔC|) in Control-Repeat group was 1.07 ± 0.88 mg/dl while this magnitude for Control-EMF group was 7.53 ± 4.76 mg/dl (P < 0.001, two-tailed test). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the electromagnetic interference in home blood glucose monitors. It can be concluded that electromagnetic interference from mobile phones has an adverse effect on the accuracy of home blood glucose monitors. We suggest that mobile phones should be used at least 50 cm away from home blood glucose monitors.

Activity Recognition for Persons With Stroke Using Mobile Phone Technology: Toward Improved Performance in a Home Setting.

PubMed

O'Brien, Megan K; Shawen, Nicholas; Mummidisetty, Chaithanya K; Kaur, Saninder; Bo, Xiao; Poellabauer, Christian; Kording, Konrad; Jayaraman, Arun

2017-05-25

Smartphones contain sensors that measure movement-related data, making them promising tools for monitoring physical activity after a stroke. Activity recognition (AR) systems are typically trained on movement data from healthy individuals collected in a laboratory setting. However, movement patterns change after a stroke (eg, gait impairment), and activities may be performed differently at home than in a lab. Thus, it is important to validate AR for gait-impaired stroke patients in a home setting for accurate clinical predictions. In this study, we sought to evaluate AR performance in a home setting for individuals who had suffered a stroke, by using different sets of training activities. Specifically, we compared AR performance for persons with stroke while varying the origin of training data, based on either population (healthy persons or persons with stoke) or environment (laboratory or home setting). Thirty individuals with stroke and fifteen healthy subjects performed a series of mobility-related activities, either in a laboratory or at home, while wearing a smartphone. A custom-built app collected signals from the phone's accelerometer, gyroscope, and barometer sensors, and subjects self-labeled the mobility activities. We trained a random forest AR model using either healthy or stroke activity data. Primary measures of AR performance were (1) the mean recall of activities and (2) the misclassification of stationary and ambulatory activities. A classifier trained on stroke activity data performed better than one trained on healthy activity data, improving average recall from 53% to 75%. The healthy-trained classifier performance declined with gait impairment severity, more often misclassifying ambulatory activities as stationary ones. The classifier trained on in-lab activities had a lower average recall for at-home activities (56%) than for in-lab activities collected on a different day (77%). Stroke-based training data is needed for high quality AR among gait-impaired individuals with stroke. Additionally, AR systems for home and community monitoring would likely benefit from including at-home activities in the training data. ©Megan K O'Brien, Nicholas Shawen, Chaithanya K Mummidisetty, Saninder Kaur, Xiao Bo, Christian Poellabauer, Konrad Kording, Arun Jayaraman. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 25.05.2017.

CRAFFT: An Activity Prediction Model based on Bayesian Networks

PubMed Central

Nazerfard, Ehsan; Cook, Diane J.

2014-01-01

Recent advances in the areas of pervasive computing, data mining, and machine learning offer unique opportunities to provide health monitoring and assistance for individuals facing difficulties to live independently in their homes. Several components have to work together to provide health monitoring for smart home residents including, but not limited to, activity recognition, activity discovery, activity prediction, and prompting system. Compared to the significant research done to discover and recognize activities, less attention has been given to predict the future activities that the resident is likely to perform. Activity prediction components can play a major role in design of a smart home. For instance, by taking advantage of an activity prediction module, a smart home can learn context-aware rules to prompt individuals to initiate important activities. In this paper, we propose an activity prediction model using Bayesian networks together with a novel two-step inference process to predict both the next activity features and the next activity label. We also propose an approach to predict the start time of the next activity which is based on modeling the relative start time of the predicted activity using the continuous normal distribution and outlier detection. To validate our proposed models, we used real data collected from physical smart environments. PMID:25937847

CRAFFT: An Activity Prediction Model based on Bayesian Networks.

PubMed

Nazerfard, Ehsan; Cook, Diane J

2015-04-01

Recent advances in the areas of pervasive computing, data mining, and machine learning offer unique opportunities to provide health monitoring and assistance for individuals facing difficulties to live independently in their homes. Several components have to work together to provide health monitoring for smart home residents including, but not limited to, activity recognition, activity discovery, activity prediction, and prompting system. Compared to the significant research done to discover and recognize activities, less attention has been given to predict the future activities that the resident is likely to perform. Activity prediction components can play a major role in design of a smart home. For instance, by taking advantage of an activity prediction module, a smart home can learn context-aware rules to prompt individuals to initiate important activities. In this paper, we propose an activity prediction model using Bayesian networks together with a novel two-step inference process to predict both the next activity features and the next activity label. We also propose an approach to predict the start time of the next activity which is based on modeling the relative start time of the predicted activity using the continuous normal distribution and outlier detection. To validate our proposed models, we used real data collected from physical smart environments.

Heart failure patients utilizing an electric home monitor: What effects does heart failure have on their quality of life?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simuel, Gloria J.

Heart Failure continues to be a major public health problem associated with high mortality and morbidity. Heart Failure is the leading cause of hospitalization for persons older than 65 years, has a poor prognosis and is associated with poor quality of life. More than 5.3 million American adults are living with heart failure. Despite maximum medical therapy and frequent hospitalizations to stabilize their condition, one in five heart failure patients die within the first year of diagnosis. Several disease-management programs have been proposed and tested to improve the quality of heart failure care. Studies have shown that hospital admissions and emergency room visits decrease with increased nursing interventions in the home and community setting. An alternative strategy for promoting self-management of heart failure is the use of electronic home monitoring. The purpose of this study was to examine what effects heart failure has on patient's quality of life that had been monitoring on an electronic home monitor longer than 2 months. Twenty-one questionnaires were given to patients utilizing an electronic home monitor by their home health agency nurse. Eleven patients completed the questionnaire. The findings showed that there is some deterioration in quality of life with more association with the physical aspects of life than with the emotional aspects of life, which probably was due to the small sample size. There was no significant difference in readmission rates in patients utilizing an electronic home monitor. Further research is needed with a larger population of patients with chronic heart failure and other chronic diseases which may provide more data, and address issues such as patient compliance with self-care, impact of heart failure on patient's quality of life, functional capacity, and heart failure patient's utilization of the emergency rooms and hospital. Telemonitoring holds promise for improving the self-care abilities of persons with HF.

A new venous infusion pathway monitoring system.

PubMed

Maki, Hiromichi; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Ogawa, Hidekuni; Ninomiya, Ishio; Sata, Koji; Hamada, Shingo; Caldwell, W Morton

2007-01-01

A new infusion catheter pathway monitoring system employing linear integrated circuits and a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer has been developed for hospital and home use. The sensor consists of coaxial three-layer conductive tapes wrapped around the polyvinyl chloride infusion tube. The inner tape is the main electrode, which records an AC (alternating current) voltage induced on the patient's body by electrostatic coupling from the normal 100 volt, 60 Hz AC power line wiring field in the patient's room. The outside tape layer is a reference electrode to monitor the AC voltage around the main electrode. The center tape layer is connected to system ground and functions as a shield. The microcomputer calculates the ratio of the induced AC voltages recorded by the main and reference electrodes and if the ratio indicates a detached infusion, alerts the nursing station, via the nurse call system or low transmitting power mobile phone.

The Utility of Home-Practice in Mindfulness-Based Group Interventions: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Lloyd, Annette; White, Ross; Eames, Catrin; Crane, Rebecca

2018-01-01

A growing body of research supports the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). MBIs consider home-practice as essential to increasing the therapeutic effects of the treatment. To date however, the synthesis of the research conducted on the role of home-practice in controlled MBI studies has been a neglected area. This review aimed to conduct a narrative synthesis of published controlled studies, evaluating mindfulness-based group interventions, which have specifically measured home-practice. Empirical research literature published until June 2016 was searched using five databases. The search strategy focused on mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and home-practice. Included studies met the following criteria: controlled trials, participants 18 years and above, evaluations of MBSR or MBCT, utilised standardised quantitative outcome measures and monitored home-practice using a self-reported measure. Fourteen studies met the criteria and were included in the review. Across all studies, there was heterogeneity in the guidance and resources provided to participants and the approaches used for monitoring home-practice. In addition, the guidance on the length of home-practice was variable across studies, which indicates that research studies and teachers are not adhering to the published protocols. Finally, only seven studies examined the relationship between home-practice and clinical outcomes, of which four found that home-practice predicted improvements on clinical outcome measures. Future research should adopt a standardised approach for monitoring home-practice across MBIs. Additionally, studies should assess whether the amount of home-practice recommended to participants is in line with MBSR/MBCT manualised protocols. Finally, research should utilise experimental methodologies to explicitly explore the relationship between home-practice and clinical outcomes.

Design, Validation, and Use of an Evaluation Instrument for Monitoring Systemic Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scantlebury, Kathryn; Boone, William; Kahle, Jane Butler; Fraser, Barry J.

2001-01-01

Describes the design, development, validation, and use of an instrument that measures student attitudes and several environmental dimensions (i.e., standards-based teaching, home support, and peer support). Indicates that the classroom environment (standards-based teaching practices) was the strongest independent predictor of both achievement and…

Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2017 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model; and Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements. Final rule.

PubMed

2016-11-03

This final rule updates the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) payment rates, including the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rates, the national per-visit rates, and the non-routine medical supply (NRS) conversion factor; effective for home health episodes of care ending on or after January 1, 2017. This rule also: Implements the last year of the 4-year phase-in of the rebasing adjustments to the HH PPS payment rates; updates the HH PPS case-mix weights using the most current, complete data available at the time of rulemaking; implements the 2nd-year of a 3-year phase-in of a reduction to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment to account for estimated case-mix growth unrelated to increases in patient acuity (that is, nominal case-mix growth) between CY 2012 and CY 2014; finalizes changes to the methodology used to calculate payments made under the HH PPS for high-cost "outlier" episodes of care; implements changes in payment for furnishing Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) using a disposable device for patients under a home health plan of care; discusses our efforts to monitor the potential impacts of the rebasing adjustments; includes an update on subsequent research and analysis as a result of the findings from the home health study; and finalizes changes to the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which was implemented on January 1, 2016; and updates to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP).

Response of consumer and research grade indoor air quality monitors to residential sources of fine particles.

PubMed

Singer, B C; Delp, W W

2018-04-23

The ability to inexpensively monitor PM 2.5 to identify sources and enable controls would advance residential indoor air quality (IAQ) management. Consumer IAQ monitors incorporating low-cost optical particle sensors and connections with smart home platforms could provide this service if they reliably detect PM 2.5 in homes. In this study, particles from typical residential sources were generated in a 120 m 3 laboratory and time-concentration profiles were measured with 7 consumer monitors (2-3 units each), 2 research monitors (Thermo pDR-1500, MetOne BT-645), a Grimm Mini Wide-Range Aerosol Spectrometer (GRM), and a Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance with Filter Dynamic Measurement System (FDMS), a Federal Equivalent Method for PM 2.5 . Sources included recreational combustion (candles, cigarettes, incense), cooking activities, an unfiltered ultrasonic humidifier, and dust. FDMS measurements, filter samples, and known densities were used to adjust the GRM to obtain time-resolved mass concentrations. Data from the research monitors and 4 of the consumer monitors-AirBeam, AirVisual, Foobot, Purple Air-were time correlated and within a factor of 2 of the estimated mass concentrations for most sources. All 7 of the consumer and both research monitors substantially under-reported or missed events for which the emitted mass was comprised of particles smaller than 0.3 μm diameter. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A feasibility study of a personalized, internet-based compliance system for chronic disease management.

PubMed

Wang, X H; Istepanian, R S H; Geake, T; Hayes, J; Desco, M; Kontaxakis, G; Santos, A; Prentza, A; Pavlopoulos, S

2005-10-01

This paper describes a feasibility study on an Internet-based compliance system to provide personalized care for patients suffering from chronic diseases. Relevant medical trials from three different European countries provided preliminary evidence of the feasibility of the system and its efficacy in helping patients to manage their diseases at home. The study discusses further improvements not only for the C-Monitor system, but also for other Internet-based health-care services.

Disaggregating Hot Water Use and Predicting Hot Water Waste in Five Test Homes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Henderson, Hugh; Wade, Jeremy

2014-04-01

While it is important to make the equipment (or "plant") in a residential hot water system more efficient, the hot water distribution system also affects overall system performance and energy use. Energy wasted in heating water that is not used is estimated to be on the order of 10%-30% of total domestic hot water (DHW) energy use. This field monitoring project installed temperature sensors on the distribution piping (on trunks and near fixtures) in five houses near Syracuse, NY, and programmed a data logger to collect data at 5 second intervals whenever there was a hot water draw. This datamore » was used to assign hot water draws to specific end uses in the home as well as to determine the portion of each hot water that was deemed useful (i.e., above a temperature threshold at the fixture). Overall, the procedures to assign water draws to each end use were able to successfully assign about 50% of the water draws, but these assigned draws accounted for about 95% of the total hot water use in each home. The amount of hot water deemed as useful ranged from low of 75% at one house to a high of 91% in another. At three of the houses, new water heaters and distribution improvements were implemented during the monitoring period and the impact of these improvements on hot water use and delivery efficiency were evaluated.« less

Making grandma's data secure: a security architecture for home telemedicine.

PubMed Central

Starren, J.; Sengupta, S.; Hripcsak, G.; Ring, G.; Klerer, R.; Shea, S.

2001-01-01

Home telemedicine presents special challenges for data security and privacy. Experience in the Informatics for Diabetes Education And Telemedicine (IDEATel) project has demonstrated that data security is not a one-size-fits-all problem. The IDEATel users include elderly patients in their homes, nurse case managers, physicians, and researchers. The project supports multiple computer systems that require a variety of user interactions, including: data entry, data review, patient education, videoconferencing, and electronic monitoring. To meet these various needs, a number of different of security solutions were utilized, including: UserID/Password, PKI certificates, time-based tokens, IP filtering, VPNs, symmetric and asymmetric encryption schemes, firewalls and dedicated connections. These were combined in different ways to meet the needs of each user groups. PMID:11825267

Practical Insight to Monitor Home NIV in COPD Patients.

PubMed

Arnal, Jean-Michel; Texereau, Joëlle; Garnero, Aude

2017-08-01

Home noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is used in COPD patients with concomitant chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure in order to correct nocturnal hypoventilation and improve sleep quality, quality of life, and survival. Monitoring of home NIV is needed to assess the effectiveness of ventilation and adherence to therapy, resolve potential adverse effects, reinforce patient knowledge, provide maintenance of the equipment, and readjust the ventilator settings according to the changing condition of the patient. Clinical monitoring is very informative. Anamnesis focuses on the improvement of nocturnal hypoventilation symptoms, sleep quality, and side effects of NIV. Side effects are major cause of intolerance. Screening side effects leads to modification of interface, gas humidification, or ventilator settings. Home care providers maintain ventilator and interface and educate patients for correct use. However, patient's education should be supervised by specialized clinicians. Blood gas measurement shows a significant decrease in PaCO 2 when NIV is efficient. Analysis of ventilator data is very useful to assess daily use, unintentional leaks, upper airway obstruction, and patient ventilator synchrony. Nocturnal oximetry and capnography are additional monitoring tools to assess the impact of NIV on gas exchanges. In the near future, telemonitoring will reinforce and change the organization of home NIV for COPD patients.

Wireless network system based multi-non-invasive sensors for smart home

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Issa Ahmed, Rudhwan

There are several techniques that have been implemented for smart homes usage; however, most of these techniques are limited to a few sensors. Many of these methods neither meet the needs of the user nor are cost-effective. This thesis discusses the design, development, and implementation of a wireless network system, based on multi-non-invasive sensors for smart home environments. This system has the potential to be used as a means to accurately, and remotely, determine the activities of daily living by continuously monitoring relatively simple parameters that measure the interaction between users and their surrounding environment. We designed and developed a prototype system to meet the specific needs of the elderly population. Unlike audio-video based health monitoring systems (which have associated problems such as the encroachment of privacy), the developed system's distinct features ensure privacy and are almost invisible to the occupants, thus increasing the acceptance levels of this system in household environments. The developed system not only achieved high levels of accuracy, but it is also portable, easy to use, cost-effective, and requires low data rates and less power compared to other wireless devices such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, wireless USB, Ultra wideband (UWB), or Infrared (IR) wireless. Field testing of the prototype system was conducted at different locations inside and outside of the Minto Building (Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering at Carleton University) as well as other locations, such as the washroom, kitchen, and living room of a prototype apartment. The main goal of the testing was to determine the range of the prototype system and the functionality of each sensor in different environments. After it was verified that the system operated well in all of the tested environments, data were then collected at the different locations for analysis and interpretation in order to identify the activities of daily living of an occupant.

Teledermatological monitoring of leg ulcers in cooperation with home care nurses.

PubMed

Binder, Barbara; Hofmann-Wellenhof, Rainer; Salmhofer, Wolfgang; Okcu, Aslihan; Kerl, Helmut; Soyer, H Peter

2007-12-01

To examine the feasibility and acceptance of teledermatology for wound management for patients with leg ulcers by home care nurses and evaluate the reduction of costs and the acceptance of teledermatology by patients and home care nurses. Case series of telemonitored patients with leg ulcers including cost-effectiveness analysis. Home monitoring by home care nurses. Sixteen patients with 45 leg ulcers of different origin were included. After an initial outpatient visit when the leg ulcers were assessed and classified, teledermatological follow-up was done by home care nurses. Relevant clinical information and 1 to 4 digital images of the wound and surrounding skin were transmitted weekly via a secure Web site to an expert at the wound care center, who assessed the wound and made therapeutic recommendations. Of the 707 images transmitted for teleconsultation, in 644 (89%) the quality of the images was excellent or sufficient and the experts were confident in giving therapeutic recommendations. Of the 45 ulcers, 32 (71%) decreased in size and 14 (31%) healed completely, whereas 10 of the 45 ulcers (22%) increased slightly in size despite the teledermatological monitoring. In 3 ulcers (7%), no measurement was possible owing to the overly large size of the ulcers. The acceptance of telemedicine was very good by most patients. Of 15 home care nurses working in the district, 7 were very satisfied with teledermatological monitoring of wound care. There was a reduction of 46% in transportation costs for the insurance companies as well as for the patients owing to a significant decrease in the number of visits to general physicians or the wound care center. The acceptance of teledermatological monitoring of wound care was very high by patients, home care nurses, and wound experts. Decreased health care costs by reducing the number of visits to wound care centers or specialist physicians and improvement in quality of life for patients with leg ulcers using telemedicine seems possible. Teledermatology offers great potential for long-term wound care.

Electronic Monitoring Systems to Assess Urinary Incontinence: A Health Technology Assessment

PubMed Central

Nevis, Immaculate; Kabali, Conrad; Anh Tu, Hong; Ekanayake, Samanthika; Mistry, Jigna; Wells, David; Ali, Arshia; Walter, Melissa; Higgins, Caroline

2018-01-01

Background Urinary incontinence is involuntary leakage of urine and can affect people of all ages. Incidence rises as people age, often because of reduced mobility or conditions affecting the nervous system, such as dementia and stroke. Urinary incontinence can be a distressing condition and can harm a person's physical, financial, social, and emotional well-being. People with urinary incontinence are susceptible to skin irritation, pressure sores, and urinary tract infections. Urinary incontinence is also associated with an increased risk of falls in older adults. This health technology assessment examined the effectiveness of, budget impact of, and patient values and preferences about electronic monitoring systems to assess urinary incontinence for residents of long-term care homes or geriatric hospital inpatients with complex conditions. Methods A clinical evidence review of the published clinical literature was conducted to June 9, 2017. Critical appraisal of the clinical evidence included assessment of risk of bias and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) Working Group criteria to reflect the certainty of the evidence. We calculated the funding required for an electronic urinary incontinence monitoring system in the first year of implementation (when facilities would buy the systems) and in subsequent years. We interviewed six people with urinary incontinence and two caregivers, who described ways urinary incontinence affected daily life. Results We included one observational study in the clinical review. Most of the 31 participants in the observational study were female (78%) and required high levels of care, primarily because of cognitive impairment. The quality of evidence for all outcomes was very low owing to potential risk of bias and indirectness. We are consequently uncertain about how electronic monitoring systems affect management of urinary incontinence. For patients living in long-term care homes who are eligible for the technology, we estimated that an electronic monitoring system to assess urinary incontinence would cost $6.4 million in the first year of implementation and $1.6 million in subsequent years. Patients said urinary incontinence reduced their independence and social life and adversely affected their quality of life. Incontinence made them embarrassed and reduced their self-esteem. Several respondents mentioned how expensive supplies to manage incontinence were. Conclusions The effectiveness of using the electronic monitoring system to assess urinary incontinence is uncertain because of the very low quality of the evidence. Introducing electronic monitoring systems would result in incremental costs, and there would be savings only if the systems substantially reduced incontinence. PMID:29844845

Electronic Monitoring Systems to Assess Urinary Incontinence: A Health Technology Assessment.

PubMed

2018-01-01

Urinary incontinence is involuntary leakage of urine and can affect people of all ages. Incidence rises as people age, often because of reduced mobility or conditions affecting the nervous system, such as dementia and stroke. Urinary incontinence can be a distressing condition and can harm a person's physical, financial, social, and emotional well-being. People with urinary incontinence are susceptible to skin irritation, pressure sores, and urinary tract infections. Urinary incontinence is also associated with an increased risk of falls in older adults.This health technology assessment examined the effectiveness of, budget impact of, and patient values and preferences about electronic monitoring systems to assess urinary incontinence for residents of long-term care homes or geriatric hospital inpatients with complex conditions. A clinical evidence review of the published clinical literature was conducted to June 9, 2017. Critical appraisal of the clinical evidence included assessment of risk of bias and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) Working Group criteria to reflect the certainty of the evidence.We calculated the funding required for an electronic urinary incontinence monitoring system in the first year of implementation (when facilities would buy the systems) and in subsequent years.We interviewed six people with urinary incontinence and two caregivers, who described ways urinary incontinence affected daily life. We included one observational study in the clinical review. Most of the 31 participants in the observational study were female (78%) and required high levels of care, primarily because of cognitive impairment. The quality of evidence for all outcomes was very low owing to potential risk of bias and indirectness. We are consequently uncertain about how electronic monitoring systems affect management of urinary incontinence.For patients living in long-term care homes who are eligible for the technology, we estimated that an electronic monitoring system to assess urinary incontinence would cost $6.4 million in the first year of implementation and $1.6 million in subsequent years.Patients said urinary incontinence reduced their independence and social life and adversely affected their quality of life. Incontinence made them embarrassed and reduced their self-esteem. Several respondents mentioned how expensive supplies to manage incontinence were. The effectiveness of using the electronic monitoring system to assess urinary incontinence is uncertain because of the very low quality of the evidence. Introducing electronic monitoring systems would result in incremental costs, and there would be savings only if the systems substantially reduced incontinence.

TIDE: an intelligent home-based healthcare information & diagnostic environment.

PubMed

Abidi, S S

1999-01-01

The 21st century promises to usher in an era of Internet based healthcare services--Tele-Healthcare. Such services augur well with the on-going paradigm shift in healthcare delivery patterns, i.e. patient centred services as opposed to provider centred services and wellness maintenance as opposed to illness management. This paper presents a Tele-Healthcare info-structure TIDE--an 'intelligent' wellness-oriented healthcare delivery environment. TIDE incorporates two WWW-based healthcare systems: (1) AIMS (Automated Health Monitoring System) for wellness maintenance and (2) IDEAS (Illness Diagnostic & Advisory System) for illness management. Our proposal comes from an attempt to rethink the sources of possible leverage in improving healthcare; vis-à-vis the provision of a continuum of personalised home-based healthcare services that emphasise the role of the individual in self health maintenance.

Embedded sensor systems for health - providing the tools in future healthcare.

PubMed

Lindén, Maria; Björkman, Mats

2014-01-01

Wearable, embedded sensor systems for health applications are foreseen to be enablers in the future healthcare. They will provide ubiquitous monitoring of multiple parameters without restricting the person to stay at home or in the hospital. By following trend changes in the health status, early deteriorations will be detected and treatment can start earlier. Also health prevention will be supported. Such future healthcare requires technology development, including miniaturized sensors, smart textiles and wireless communication. The tremendous amount of data generated by these systems calls for both signal processing and decision support to guarantee the quality of data and avoid overflow of information. Safe and secure communications have to protect the integrity of the persons monitored.

Integrated wireless sensor network for monitoring pregnant women.

PubMed

Niţulescu, Adina; Crişan-Vida, Mihaela; Stoicu-Tivadar, Lăcrămioara; Bernad, Elena

2015-01-01

The paper presents an integrated monitoring system for pregnant women in the third trimester using a mobile cardiotocograph and body sensors. The medical staff has a useful tool to detect abnormalities and prevent unfortunate events in time. The mobile cardiotocograph sends data in real time to a Smartphone that communicates the information in a cloud. The physician accesses the data using the hospital ObgGyn application. The advantage of using this system is that the pregnant woman can follow her pregnancy status evolution from home, and the physician receives alarms from the system if the data is not in normal range and has available information about the health status at any time and location.

An Electronic Pillbox for Continuous Monitoring of Medication Adherence

PubMed Central

Hayes, Tamara. L.; Hunt, John M.; Adami, Andre; Kaye, Jeffrey A.

2010-01-01

We have developed an instrumented pillbox, called a MedTracker, which allows monitoring of medication adherence on a continuous basis. This device improves on existing systems by providing mobility, frequent and automatic data collection, more detailed information about nonadherence and medication errors, and the familiar interface of a 7-day drug store pillbox. We report on the design of the MedTracker, and on the results of a field trial in 39 homes to evaluate the device. PMID:17946369

CTEPP DATA COLLECTION FORM 07: CHILD DAY CARE CENTER POST-MONITORING

EPA Science Inventory

This data collection form is used to provide information on the child's daily activities and potential exposures to pollutants at their homes. It includes questions on chemicals applied and cigarettes smoked at the home over the 48-hr monitoring period. It also collects informati...

CTEPP NC DATA COLLECTED ON FORM 06A: PARENT POST-MONITORING QUESTIONNAIRE

EPA Science Inventory

This data set contains data concerning the child’s daily activities and potential exposures to pollutants at their homes. It included questions on chemicals applied, cigarettes smoked, and cooking practices at the home over the 48-h monitoring period. It collected information on ...

Low-frequency group exercise improved the motor functions of community-dwelling elderly people in a rural area when combined with home exercise with self-monitoring

PubMed Central

Matsubayashi, Yoshito; Asakawa, Yasuyoshi; Yamaguchi, Haruyasu

2016-01-01

[Purpose] This study examined whether low-frequency group exercise improved the motor functions of community-dwelling elderly people in a rural area when combined with home exercise with self-monitoring. [Subjects] The subjects were community-dwelling elderly people in a rural area of Japan. [Methods] One group (n = 50) performed group exercise combined with home exercise with self-monitoring. Another group (n = 37) performed group exercise only. Low-frequency group exercise (warm-up, exercises for motor functions, and cool-down) was performed in seven 40 to 70-minute sessions over 9 weeks by both groups. Five items of motor functions were assessed before and after the intervention. [Results] Significant interactions were observed between groups and assessment times for all motor functions. Improvements in motor functions were significantly greater in the group that performed group exercise combined with home exercise with self-monitoring than in the group that performed group exercise only. Post-hoc comparisons revealed significant differences in 3 items of motor functions. No significant improvements were observed in motor functions in the group that performed group exercise only. [Conclusions] Group exercise combined with home exercise with self-monitoring improved motor functions in the setting of low-frequency group exercise for community-dwelling elderly people in a rural area. PMID:27065520

A qualitative review for wireless health monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arshad, Atika; Fadzil Ismail, Ahmad; Khan, Sheroz; Zahirul Alam, A. H. M.; Tasnim, Rumana; Samnan Haider, Syed; Shobaki, Mohammed M.; Shahid, Zeeshan

2013-12-01

A proliferating interest has been being observed over the past years in accurate wireless system development in order to monitor incessant human activities in health care centres. Furthermore because of the swelling number of elderly population and the inadequate number of competent staffs for nursing homes there is a big market petition for health care monitoring system. In order to detect human researchers developed different methods namely which include Field Identification technique, Visual Sensor Network, radar detection, e-mobile techniques and so on. An all-encompassing overview of the non-wired human detection application advancement is presented in this paper. Inductive links are used for human detection application while wiring an electronic system has become impractical in recent times. Keeping in mind the shortcomings, an Inductive Intelligent Sensor (IIS) has been proposed as a novel human monitoring system for future implementation. The proposed sensor works towards exploring the signature signals of human body movement and size. This proposed sensor is fundamentally based on inductive loop that senses the presence and a passing human resulting an inductive change.

Smart watch RSSI localization and refinement for behavioral classification using laser-SLAM for mapping and fingerprinting.

PubMed

Carlson, Jay D; Mittek, Mateusz; Parkison, Steven A; Sathler, Pedro; Bayne, David; Psota, Eric T; Perez, Lance C; Bonasera, Stephen J

2014-01-01

As a first step toward building a smart home behavioral monitoring system capable of classifying a wide variety of human behavior, a wireless sensor network (WSN) system is presented for RSSI localization. The low-cost, non-intrusive system uses a smart watch worn by the user to broadcast data to the WSN, where the strength of the radio signal is evaluated at each WSN node to localize the user. A method is presented that uses simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for system calibration, providing automated fingerprinting associating the radio signal strength patterns to the user's location within the living space. To improve the accuracy of localization, a novel refinement technique is introduced that takes into account typical movement patterns of people within their homes. Experimental results demonstrate that the system is capable of providing accurate localization results in a typical living space.

Aging well with smart technology.

PubMed

Cheek, Penny; Nikpour, Linda; Nowlin, Heather D

2005-01-01

As baby-boomers age, the need for long-term nursing care services increases. In the future, there will simply not be enough long-term care facilities to accommodate all of these patients. In addition, many people prefer to grow old at home, a concept known as aging-in-place. Smart home technology facilities aging-in-place by assisting patients with emergency assistance, fall prevention/detection, reminder systems, medication administration and assistance for those with hearing, visual or cognitive impairments. Benefits include making aging-in-place a reality, continuous monitoring, and improved psychosocial effects. Concerns of this technology include cost, availability of technology, retrofitting complications, and potential inappropriate use of the technology. Overall, the concept of smart homes is gaining in popularity and will expand the role of the nurse in the future. It is important for all nurses to understand how their practices will be transformed as smart homes become a reality for the aging population.

Design and Implementation of a Perioperative Surgical Home at a Veterans Affairs Hospital.

PubMed

Walters, Tessa L; Howard, Steven K; Kou, Alex; Bertaccini, Edward J; Harrison, T Kyle; Kim, T Edward; Shafer, Audrey; Brun, Carlos; Funck, Natasha; Siegel, Lawrence C; Stary, Erica; Mariano, Edward R

2016-06-01

The innovative Perioperative Surgical Home model aims to optimize the outcomes of surgical patients by leveraging the expertise and leadership of physician anesthesiologists, but there is a paucity of practical examples to follow. Veterans Affairs health care, the largest integrated system in the United States, may be the ideal environment in which to explore this model. We present our experience implementing Perioperative Surgical Home at one tertiary care university-affiliated Veterans Affairs hospital. This process involved initiating consistent postoperative patient follow-up beyond the postanesthesia care unit, a focus on improving in-hospital acute pain management, creation of an accessible database to track outcomes, developing new clinical pathways, and recruiting additional staff. Today, our Perioperative Surgical Home facilitates communication between various services involved in the care of surgical patients, monitoring of patient outcomes, and continuous process improvement. © The Author(s) 2015.

Bringing the pregnancy test home from the hospital.

PubMed

Robinson, Joan H

2016-10-01

This paper explores the settlement process of one of the most common home diagnostic tools currently in use, the home pregnancy test. The controversial new device appeared to threaten the jurisdiction of both doctors and Food and Drug Administration regulations, while it aligned with the women's health movement's goals. But this study finds a more nuanced narrative: one of boundaries and positions that at once were blurry, later shifted, and were ultimately aligned without compromising the credibility of doctors or the legal system. To understand this process, the roles of court decisions and regulations are explained by stages of juris-technical accordance. In this case, rather than restricting technological innovation, legal innovation provided pathways for widespread acceptance of the home pregnancy test by various groups. As more tools move from expert users to layperson users, this paper demonstrates the utility of examining existing juris-technical assemblages as we consider the future of self-monitoring and self-diagnosis.

Super Energy Efficiency Design (S.E.E.D.) Home Evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

German, A.; Dakin, B.; Backman, C.

This report describes the results of evaluation by the Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI) Building America team of the 'Super Energy Efficient Design' (S.E.E.D) home, a 1,935 sq. ft., single-story spec home located in Tucson, AZ. This prototype design was developed with the goal of providing an exceptionally energy efficient yet affordable home and includes numerous aggressive energy features intended to significantly reduce heating and cooling loads such as structural insulated panel (SIP) walls and roof, high performance windows, an ERV, an air-to-water heat pump with mixed-mode radiant and forced air delivery, solar water heating, and rooftop PV. Sourcemore » energy savings are estimated at 45% over the Building America B10 Benchmark. System commissioning, short term testing, long term monitoring and detailed analysis of results was conducted to identify the performance attributes and cost effectiveness of the whole house measure package.« less

Super Energy Efficient Design (S.E.E.D.) Home Evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

German, A.; Dakin, B.; Backman, C.

This report describes the results of evaluation by the Alliance for Residential Building Innovation (ARBI) Building America team of the “Super Energy Efficient Design” (S.E.E.D) home, a 1,935 sq. ft., single-story spec home located in Tucson, AZ. This prototype design was developed with the goal of providing an exceptionally energy efficient yet affordable home and includes numerous aggressive energy features intended to significantly reduce heating and cooling loads such as structural insulated panel (SIP) walls and roof, high performance windows, an ERV, an air-to-water heat pump with mixed-mode radiant and forced air delivery, solar water heating, and rooftop PV. Sourcemore » energy savings are estimated at 45% over the Building America B10 Benchmark. System commissioning, short term testing, long term monitoring and detailed analysis of results was conducted to identify the performance attributes and cost effectiveness of the whole house measure package.« less

Patients' acceptance of Internet-based home asthma telemonitoring.

PubMed

Finkelstein, J; Hripcsak, G; Cabrera, M R

1998-01-01

We studied asthma patients from a low-income inner-city community without previous computer experience. The patients were given portable spirometers to perform spirometry tests and palmtop computers to enter symptoms in a diary, to exchange messages with physician and to review test results. The self-testing was performed at home on a daily basis. The results were transmitted to the hospital information system immediately after completion of each test. Physician could review results using an Internet Web browser from any location. A constantly active decision support server monitored all data traffic and dispatched alerts when certain clinical conditions were met. Seventeen patients, out of 19 invited, agreed to participate in the study and have been monitored for three weeks. They have been surveyed then using standardized questionnaire. Most of the patients (82.4%) characterized self-testing procedures as "not complicated at all." In 70.6% of cases self-testing did not interfere with usual activities, and 82.4% of patients felt the self-testing required a "very little" amount of their time. All patients stated that it is important for them to know that the results can be reviewed by professional staff in a timely manner. However, only 29.5% of patients reviewed their results at least once a week at home independently. The majority of the patients (94.1%) were strongly interested in using home asthma telemonitoring in the future. We concluded that Internet-based home asthma telemonitoring can be successfully implemented in the group of patients without previous computer background.

A Smartphone-based Medication Self-management System with Realtime Medication Monitoring

PubMed Central

Hayakawa, M.; Uchimura, Y.; Omae, K.; Waki, K.; Fujita, H.; Ohe, K.

2013-01-01

Background Most patients cannot remember their entire medication regimen and occasionally forget to take their medication. Objectives The objective of the study was to design, develop, and demonstrate the feasibility of a new type of medication self-management system using smartphones with real-time medication monitoring. Methods We designed and developed a smartphone-based medication self-management system (SMSS) based on interviews of 116 patients. The system offered patients two main functions by means of smartphones: (1) storage and provision of an accurate, portable medication history and medication-taking records of patients; and (2) provision of a reminder to take medication only when the patient has forgotten to take his/her medication. These functions were realized by two data input methods: (a) reading of prescription data represented in two-dimensional barcodes using the smartphone camera and getting the photographic images of the pills; and (b) real-time medication monitoring by novel user-friendly wireless pillboxes. Results Interviews suggested that a pocket-sized pillbox was demanded to support patient’s medication-taking outside the home and pillboxes for home use should be adaptable to the different means of pillbox storage. In accordance with the result, we designed and developed SMSS. Ten patients participated in the feasibility study. In 17 out of 47 cases (36.2%), patients took their medication upon being presented with reminders by the system. Correct medication-taking occurrence was improved using this system. Conclusions The SMSS is acceptable to patients and has the advantage of supporting ubiquitous medication self-management using a smartphone. We believe that the proposed system is feasible and provides an innovative solution to encourage medication self-management. PMID:23650486

Blood pressure monitoring: theory and practice. European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability Teaching Course Proceedings.

PubMed

Stergiou, George S; Palatini, Paolo; Asmar, Roland; Bilo, Grzegorz; de la Sierra, Alejandro; Head, Geoff; Kario, Kazuomi; Mihailidou, Anastasia; Wang, Jiguang; Mancia, Giuseppe; O'Brien, Eoin; Parati, Gianfranco

2018-02-01

The European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Working Group on Blood Pressure (BP) Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability organized a Teaching Course on 'Blood Pressure Monitoring: Theory and Practice' during the 2017 ESH Meeting in Milan, Italy. This course performed by 11 international BP monitoring experts covered key topics of BP monitoring, including office BP measurement, ambulatory BP monitoring, home BP monitoring, ambulatory versus home BP, white-coat and masked hypertension, cuff use, and BP variability. This article presents a summary of the proceedings of the ESH BP Monitoring Teaching Course, including essential information, practical issues, and recommendations on the clinical application of BP monitoring methods, aiming to the optimal management of patients with suspected or diagnosed hypertension.

Self-diagnostics and home monitoring: exploring new business opportunities.

PubMed

Lewis, T S

1999-03-01

The world is still shrinking. Advances in telecommunications are turning the concept of a global community into a reality. In the medical industry, this has translated into increased self-diagnostics and home monitoring. This article discusses a number of strategies for successful product positioning amidst technical revolution.

CTEPP-OH DATA COLLECTED ON FORM 07: CHILD DAY CARE CENTER POST-MONITORING

EPA Science Inventory

This data set contains data concerning the child’s daily activities and potential exposures to pollutants at their homes for CTEPP-OH. It included questions on chemicals applied and cigarettes smoked at the home over the 48-h monitoring period. It also collected information on th...

CTEPP NC DATA COLLECTED ON FORM 07: CHILD DAY CARE CENTER POST-MONITORING

EPA Science Inventory

This data set contains data concerning the child’s daily activities and potential exposures to pollutants at their homes. It included questions on chemicals applied and cigarettes smoked at the home over the 48-h monitoring period. It also collected information on the child’s han...

CTEPP-OH DATA COLLECTED ON FORM 06A: PARENT POST-MONITORING QUESTIONNAIRE

EPA Science Inventory

This data set contains data concerning the child’s daily activities and potential exposures to pollutants at their homes for CTEPP-OH. It included questions on chemicals applied, cigarettes smoked, and cooking practices at the home over the 48-h monitoring period. It collected in...

CPC - Monitoring & Data: Regional Climate Maps

Science.gov Websites

Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Center Site Map News Information CPC Web Team HOME > Monitoring and Data > Global Climate Data & Maps > Global Regional Climate Maps Regional Climate Maps Banner The Monthly regional analyses products are usually

Automated Cognitive Health Assessment From Smart Home-Based Behavior Data.

PubMed

Dawadi, Prafulla Nath; Cook, Diane Joyce; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2016-07-01

Smart home technologies offer potential benefits for assisting clinicians by automating health monitoring and well-being assessment. In this paper, we examine the actual benefits of smart home-based analysis by monitoring daily behavior in the home and predicting clinical scores of the residents. To accomplish this goal, we propose a clinical assessment using activity behavior (CAAB) approach to model a smart home resident's daily behavior and predict the corresponding clinical scores. CAAB uses statistical features that describe characteristics of a resident's daily activity performance to train machine learning algorithms that predict the clinical scores. We evaluate the performance of CAAB utilizing smart home sensor data collected from 18 smart homes over two years. We obtain a statistically significant correlation ( r=0.72) between CAAB-predicted and clinician-provided cognitive scores and a statistically significant correlation ( r=0.45) between CAAB-predicted and clinician-provided mobility scores. These prediction results suggest that it is feasible to predict clinical scores using smart home sensor data and learning-based data analysis.

A Standards-Based Architecture Proposal for Integrating Patient mHealth Apps to Electronic Health Record Systems.

PubMed

Marceglia, S; Fontelo, P; Rossi, E; Ackerman, M J

2015-01-01

Mobile health Applications (mHealth Apps) are opening the way to patients' responsible and active involvement with their own healthcare management. However, apart from Apps allowing patient's access to their electronic health records (EHRs), mHealth Apps are currently developed as dedicated "island systems". Although much work has been done on patient's access to EHRs, transfer of information from mHealth Apps to EHR systems is still low. This study proposes a standards-based architecture that can be adopted by mHealth Apps to exchange information with EHRs to support better quality of care. Following the definition of requirements for the EHR/mHealth App information exchange recently proposed, and after reviewing current standards, we designed the architecture for EHR/mHealth App integration. Then, as a case study, we modeled a system based on the proposed architecture aimed to support home monitoring for congestive heart failure patients. We simulated such process using, on the EHR side, OpenMRS, an open source longitudinal EHR and, on the mHealth App side, the iOS platform. The integration architecture was based on the bi-directional exchange of standard documents (clinical document architecture rel2 - CDA2). In the process, the clinician "prescribes" the home monitoring procedures by creating a CDA2 prescription in the EHR that is sent, encrypted and de-identified, to the mHealth App to create the monitoring calendar. At the scheduled time, the App alerts the patient to start the monitoring. After the measurements are done, the App generates a structured CDA2-compliant monitoring report and sends it to the EHR, thus avoiding local storage. The proposed architecture, even if validated only in a simulation environment, represents a step forward in the integration of personal mHealth Apps into the larger health-IT ecosystem, allowing the bi-directional data exchange between patients and healthcare professionals, supporting the patient's engagement in self-management and self-care.

AP@home: a novel European approach to bring the artificial pancreas home.

PubMed

Heinemann, Lutz; Benesch, Carsten; DeVries, J Hans

2011-11-01

The development of an artificial pancreas (AP) made huge strides from 2006 to 2008 and a large number of activities are going on in this area of research. Until now, most AP systems under development were tested only under highly controlled conditions. The aim of our project, funded by the European Union, is to develop an AP system to such a level that it can be studied under daily life conditions at the home of patients with diabetes (hence AP@home). Based on a subcutaneous-subcutaneous closed-loop strategy (i.e., glucose sensing and insulin infusion in the subcutaneous tissue), two different approaches will be taken to achieve this aim: a two-port AP system and a single-port AP system. The two-port AP system will use off-the-shelf-components for the glucose sensor and insulin pump in combination with closed-loop algorithms generated in Europe. As to the single-port AP system, two different innovative single-port systems will be developed; in this case, continuous glucose monitoring and insulin infusion will take place via a single catheter. The first clinical trials with the two-port AP system under controlled clinical conditions have started and good progress has been made in the development of the single-port AP systems. We believe that our consortium of 12 European partners, which builds on existing achievements and close cooperation between academic centers and industry, can contribute substantially to the development of an AP system that can be used by patients in daily life. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

Medical Equipment at Home After the NICU

MedlinePlus

... Medical equipment at home after the NICU Medical equipment at home after the NICU E-mail to ... care unit (NICU) don’t need special medical equipment, like monitors or feeding tubes, when they leave ...

Design of a prototype device for remote patient care with mild cognitive impairment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez-Ocampo, M.; Segura-Giraldo, B.; Floréz-Hurtado, R.; Cortés-Aguirre, C.

2016-04-01

This paper describes the design of a prototype telecare system, which allows to provide home care to patients with mild cognitive impairment and thus ensures their permanence in their usual environment. Telecare is oriented towards people who require constant attention due to conditions of advanced age, illness, physical risk or limited capabilities. Telecare offers these people a greater degree of independence. QFD methodology is used to develop electronic devices intended to monitor the environment and physiological state of the user continuously, providing communication between the telecare system and a monitoring center in order to take the most appropriate actions in any abnormal event.

Flexible architecture of data acquisition firmware based on multi-behaviors finite state machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arpaia, Pasquale; Cimmino, Pasquale

2016-11-01

A flexible firmware architecture for different kinds of data acquisition systems, ranging from high-precision bench instruments to low-cost wireless transducers networks, is presented. The key component is a multi-behaviors finite state machine, easily configurable to both low- and high-performance requirements, to diverse operating systems, as well as to on-line and batch measurement algorithms. The proposed solution was validated experimentally on three case studies with data acquisition architectures: (i) concentrated, in a high-precision instrument for magnetic measurements at CERN, (ii) decentralized, for telemedicine remote monitoring of patients at home, and (iii) distributed, for remote monitoring of building's energy loss.

Telefetalcare: a first prototype of a wearable fetal electrocardiograph.

PubMed

Fanelli, A; Signorini, M G; Ferrario, M; Perego, P; Piccini, L; Andreoni, G; Magenes, G

2011-01-01

Fetal heart rate monitoring is fundamental to infer information about fetal health state during pregnancy. The cardiotocography (CTG) is the most common antepartum monitoring technique. Abdominal ECG recording represents the most valuable alternative to cardiotocography, as it allows passive, non invasive and long term fetal monitoring. Unluckily fetal ECG has low SNR and needs to be extracted from abdominal recordings using ad hoc algorithms. This work describes a prototype of a wearable fetal ECG electrocardiograph. The system has flat band frequency response between 1-60 Hz and guarantees good signal quality. It was tested on pregnant women between the 30(th) and 34(th) gestational week. Several electrodes configurations were tested, in order to identify the best solution. Implementation of a simple algorithm for FECG extraction permitted the reliable detection of maternal and fetal QRS complexes. The system will allow continuative and deep screening of fetal heart rate, introducing the possibility of home fetal monitoring.

Measuring Building Insulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parks, Beth

2013-03-01

Currently, the only way for homeowners to learn about the effectiveness of their home insulation is to hire an energy auditor. This difficulty deters homeowners from taking action to improve energy efficiency. In principle, measuring the temperature difference between a wall surface and the interior of a home is sufficient to determine the wall insulation, but in practice, temperature cycles from the heating system make a single measurement unreliable. I will describe a simple and inexpensive thermocouple-based device to measure this temperature difference and report results obtained by monitoring this temperature difference over multiple heating cycles in a range of buildings. Patent application 12/555371

A wearable computing platform for developing cloud-based machine learning models for health monitoring applications.

PubMed

Patel, Shyamal; McGinnis, Ryan S; Silva, Ikaro; DiCristofaro, Steve; Mahadevan, Nikhil; Jortberg, Elise; Franco, Jaime; Martin, Albert; Lust, Joseph; Raj, Milan; McGrane, Bryan; DePetrillo, Paolo; Aranyosi, A J; Ceruolo, Melissa; Pindado, Jesus; Ghaffari, Roozbeh

2016-08-01

Wearable sensors have the potential to enable clinical-grade ambulatory health monitoring outside the clinic. Technological advances have enabled development of devices that can measure vital signs with great precision and significant progress has been made towards extracting clinically meaningful information from these devices in research studies. However, translating measurement accuracies achieved in the controlled settings such as the lab and clinic to unconstrained environments such as the home remains a challenge. In this paper, we present a novel wearable computing platform for unobtrusive collection of labeled datasets and a new paradigm for continuous development, deployment and evaluation of machine learning models to ensure robust model performance as we transition from the lab to home. Using this system, we train activity classification models across two studies and track changes in model performance as we go from constrained to unconstrained settings.

Security and privacy issues with health care information technology.

PubMed

Meingast, Marci; Roosta, Tanya; Sastry, Shankar

2006-01-01

The face of health care is changing as new technologies are being incorporated into the existing infrastructure. Electronic patient records and sensor networks for in-home patient monitoring are at the current forefront of new technologies. Paper-based patient records are being put in electronic format enabling patients to access their records via the Internet. Remote patient monitoring is becoming more feasible as specialized sensors can be placed inside homes. The combination of these technologies will improve the quality of health care by making it more personalized and reducing costs and medical errors. While there are benefits to technologies, associated privacy and security issues need to be analyzed to make these systems socially acceptable. In this paper we explore the privacy and security implications of these next-generation health care technologies. We describe existing methods for handling issues as well as discussing which issues need further consideration.

At-Home Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) With Telehealth Support for Symptom Control in Chronically-Ill Patients With Multiple Symptoms.

PubMed

Riggs, Alexa; Patel, Vaishali; Paneri, Bhaskar; Portenoy, Russell K; Bikson, Marom; Knotkova, Helena

2018-01-01

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) delivered in multiple sessions can reduce symptom burden, but access of chronically ill patients to tDCS studies is constrained by the burden of office-based tDCS administration. Expanded access to this therapy can be accomplished through the development of interventions that allow at-home tDCS applications. Objective: We describe the development and initial feasibility assessment of a novel intervention for the chronically ill that combines at-home tDCS with telehealth support. Methods: In the developmental phase, the tDCS procedure was adjusted for easy application by patients or their informal caregivers at home, and a tDCS protocol with specific elements for enhanced safety and remote adherence monitoring was created. Lay language instructional materials were written and revised based on expert feedback. The materials were loaded onto a tablet allowing for secure video-conferencing. The telehealth tablet was paired with an at-home tDCS device that allowed for remote dose control via electronic codes dispensed to patients prior to each session. tDCS was delivered in two phases: once daily on 10 consecutive days, followed by an as needed regimen for 20 days. Initial feasibility of this tDCS-telehealth system was evaluated in four patients with advanced chronic illness and multiple symptoms. Change in symptom burden and patient satisfaction were assessed with the Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (CMSAS) and a tDCS user survey. Results: The telehealth-tDCS protocol includes one home visit and has seven patient-tailored elements and six elements enhancing safety monitoring. Replicable electrode placement at home without 10-20 EEG measurement is achieved via a headband that holds electrodes in a pre-determined position. There were no difficulties with patients' training, protocol adherence, or tolerability. A total of 60 tDCS sessions were applied. No session required discontinuation, and there were no adverse events. Data collection was feasible and there were no missing data. Satisfaction with the tDCS-telehealth procedure was high and the patients were comfortable using the system. Conclusion: At-home tDCS with telehealth support appears to be a feasible approach for the management of symptom burden in patients with chronic illness. Further studies to evaluate and optimize the protocol effectiveness for symptom-control outcomes are warranted.

At-Home Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) With Telehealth Support for Symptom Control in Chronically-Ill Patients With Multiple Symptoms

PubMed Central

Riggs, Alexa; Patel, Vaishali; Paneri, Bhaskar; Portenoy, Russell K.; Bikson, Marom; Knotkova, Helena

2018-01-01

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) delivered in multiple sessions can reduce symptom burden, but access of chronically ill patients to tDCS studies is constrained by the burden of office-based tDCS administration. Expanded access to this therapy can be accomplished through the development of interventions that allow at-home tDCS applications. Objective: We describe the development and initial feasibility assessment of a novel intervention for the chronically ill that combines at-home tDCS with telehealth support. Methods: In the developmental phase, the tDCS procedure was adjusted for easy application by patients or their informal caregivers at home, and a tDCS protocol with specific elements for enhanced safety and remote adherence monitoring was created. Lay language instructional materials were written and revised based on expert feedback. The materials were loaded onto a tablet allowing for secure video-conferencing. The telehealth tablet was paired with an at-home tDCS device that allowed for remote dose control via electronic codes dispensed to patients prior to each session. tDCS was delivered in two phases: once daily on 10 consecutive days, followed by an as needed regimen for 20 days. Initial feasibility of this tDCS-telehealth system was evaluated in four patients with advanced chronic illness and multiple symptoms. Change in symptom burden and patient satisfaction were assessed with the Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (CMSAS) and a tDCS user survey. Results: The telehealth-tDCS protocol includes one home visit and has seven patient-tailored elements and six elements enhancing safety monitoring. Replicable electrode placement at home without 10–20 EEG measurement is achieved via a headband that holds electrodes in a pre-determined position. There were no difficulties with patients’ training, protocol adherence, or tolerability. A total of 60 tDCS sessions were applied. No session required discontinuation, and there were no adverse events. Data collection was feasible and there were no missing data. Satisfaction with the tDCS-telehealth procedure was high and the patients were comfortable using the system. Conclusion: At-home tDCS with telehealth support appears to be a feasible approach for the management of symptom burden in patients with chronic illness. Further studies to evaluate and optimize the protocol effectiveness for symptom-control outcomes are warranted. PMID:29872381

A typewriting system operated by head movements, based on home-computer equipment.

PubMed

Heuvelmans, A M; Mélotte, H E; Neve, J J

1990-06-01

For persons who cannot move their hands and legs we have designed a relatively inexpensive typewriting system which can be operated by movements of the head. The typewriter is made up of commercially available home computer equipment - i e, a computer including monitor and printer and a headset replacing the mouse. A user-friendly software program has been designed to replace the mouse button and to make this equipment act as a typewriter with simple text-editing features. Some ergonomics aspects of the typewriter set-up and the results of an evaluation of the typewriter by two patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are given. Several factors relevant to the design, construction, evaluation and application of the typewriter are discussed.

Pressure Mapping Mat for Tele-Home Care Applications

PubMed Central

Saenz-Cogollo, Jose Francisco; Pau, Massimiliano; Fraboni, Beatrice; Bonfiglio, Annalisa

2016-01-01

In this paper we present the development of a mat-like pressure mapping system based on a single layer textile sensor and intended to be used in home environments for monitoring the physical condition of persons with limited mobility. The sensor is fabricated by embroidering silver-coated yarns on a light cotton fabric and creating pressure-sensitive resistive elements by stamping the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) at the crossing points of conductive stitches. A battery-operated mat prototype was developed and includes the scanning circuitry and a wireless communication module. A functional description of the system is presented together with a preliminary experimental evaluation of the mat prototype in the extraction of plantar pressure parameters. PMID:26978369

Moisture Performance of High-R Wall Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shah, Nay B.; Kochkin, Vladimir

High-performance homes offer improved comfort, lower utility bills, and assured durability. The next generation of building enclosures is a key step toward achieving high-performance goals through decreasing energy load demand and enabling advanced space-conditioning systems. Yet the adoption of high-R enclosures and particularly high-R walls has been a slow-growing trend because mainstream builders are hesitant to make the transition. In a survey of builders on this topic, one of the challenges identifi ed is an industry-wide concern about the long-term moisture performance of energy-effi cient walls. This study takes a step toward addressing this concern through direct monitoring of themore » moisture performance of high-R walls in occupied homes in several climate zones. In addition, the robustness of the design and modeling tools for selecting high-R wall solutions is evaluated using the monitored data from the field. The information and knowledge gained through this research will provide an objective basis for decision-making so that builders can implement advanced designs with confidence.« less

MyAirCoach: the use of home-monitoring and mHealth systems to predict deterioration in asthma control and the occurrence of asthma exacerbations; study protocol of an observational study

PubMed Central

Honkoop, Persijn J; Simpson, Andrew; Bonini, Matteo; Snoeck-Stroband, Jiska B; Meah, Sally; Fan Chung, Kian; Usmani, Omar S; Fowler, Stephen; Sont, Jacob K

2017-01-01

Introduction Asthma is a variable lung condition whereby patients experience periods of controlled and uncontrolled asthma symptoms. Patients who experience prolonged periods of uncontrolled asthma have a higher incidence of exacerbations and increased morbidity and mortality rates. The ability to determine and to predict levels of asthma control and the occurrence of exacerbations is crucial in asthma management. Therefore, we aimed to determine to what extent physiological, behavioural and environmental data, obtained by mobile healthcare (mHealth) and home-monitoring sensors, as well as patient characteristics, can be used to predict episodes of uncontrolled asthma and the onset of asthma exacerbations. Methods and analysis In an 1-year observational study, patients will be provided with mHealth and home-monitoring systems to record daily measurements for the first-month (phase I) and weekly measurements during a follow-up period of 11 months (phase II). Our study population consists of 150 patients, aged ≥18 years, with a clinician's diagnosis of asthma, currently on controller medication, with uncontrolled asthma and/or minimally one exacerbation in the past 12 months. They will be enrolled over three participating centres, including Leiden, London and Manchester. Our main outcomes are the association between physiological, behavioural and environmental data and (1) the loss of asthma control and (2) the occurrence of asthma exacerbations. Ethics This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and by the NHS ethics service in the UK. Trial registration number NCT02774772. PMID:28119390

MyAirCoach: the use of home-monitoring and mHealth systems to predict deterioration in asthma control and the occurrence of asthma exacerbations; study protocol of an observational study.

PubMed

Honkoop, Persijn J; Simpson, Andrew; Bonini, Matteo; Snoeck-Stroband, Jiska B; Meah, Sally; Fan Chung, Kian; Usmani, Omar S; Fowler, Stephen; Sont, Jacob K

2017-01-24

Asthma is a variable lung condition whereby patients experience periods of controlled and uncontrolled asthma symptoms. Patients who experience prolonged periods of uncontrolled asthma have a higher incidence of exacerbations and increased morbidity and mortality rates. The ability to determine and to predict levels of asthma control and the occurrence of exacerbations is crucial in asthma management. Therefore, we aimed to determine to what extent physiological, behavioural and environmental data, obtained by mobile healthcare (mHealth) and home-monitoring sensors, as well as patient characteristics, can be used to predict episodes of uncontrolled asthma and the onset of asthma exacerbations. In an 1-year observational study, patients will be provided with mHealth and home-monitoring systems to record daily measurements for the first-month (phase I) and weekly measurements during a follow-up period of 11 months (phase II). Our study population consists of 150 patients, aged ≥18 years, with a clinician's diagnosis of asthma, currently on controller medication, with uncontrolled asthma and/or minimally one exacerbation in the past 12 months. They will be enrolled over three participating centres, including Leiden, London and Manchester. Our main outcomes are the association between physiological, behavioural and environmental data and (1) the loss of asthma control and (2) the occurrence of asthma exacerbations. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and by the NHS ethics service in the UK. NCT02774772. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Incorporating genetic sampling in long-term monitoring and adaptive management in the San Diego County Management Strategic Plan Area, Southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vandergast, Amy G.

2017-06-02

Habitat and species conservation plans usually rely on monitoring to assess progress towards conservation goals. Southern California, USA, is a hotspot of biodiversity and home to many federally endangered and threatened species. Here, several regional multi-species conservation plans have been implemented to balance development and conservation goals, including in San Diego County. In the San Diego County Management Strategic Plan Area (MSPA), a monitoring framework for the preserve system has been developed with a focus on species monitoring, vegetation monitoring, threats monitoring and abiotic monitoring. Genetic sampling over time (genetic monitoring) has proven useful in gathering species presence and abundance data and detecting population trends, particularly related to species and threats monitoring objectives. This report reviews genetic concepts and techniques of genetics that relate to monitoring goals and outlines components of a genetic monitoring scheme that could be applied in San Diego or in other monitoring frameworks throughout the Nation.

What evidence do we have to replace in-hospital implantable cardioverter defibrillator follow-up?

PubMed

Brugada, P

2006-01-01

Due to the increasing number of patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), new options for ICD patient follow-up management are required. Patients with ICD indication according to the guidelines received an ICD with Home Monitoring technology. The devices enabled the transmission of the relevant episode, therapy, and system integrity data. Patients were followed for 12 months with routine controls every 3 months. The physician analyzed the Home Monitoring data before the routine follow-up visit (FU) and gave a forecast on the necessity of the pending FU, which was compared with the evaluation after the FU. Based on the derived forecast reliability, a patient management scheme was developed and its impact on patient safety was assessed retrospectively. A total of 271 patients were enrolled (40 f, mean age 62+/-12 years, mean LVEF 39+/-15%, 65% ischemic heart disease, 20% cardiomyopathy) and followed for 339+/-109 days. Of 908 pairs of Home Monitoring data and FU data evaluation, 129 there were false negative results for 92 patients. Safety concerns from false negative forecasts can be minimized with a patient management scheme containing the following elements: 1) never skip the first routine FU; 2) never skip a routine FU for a patient having already shown pacing threshold problems; 3) perform FU following hospitalizations; 4) perform FU following episode detection by the ICD; and 5) perform a routine FU if the patient reports symptoms. The retrospective analysis showed, that if the patients had been managed using this scheme, 503 of 1079 routine FU could have been skipped with only one safety concern, a three month delay in the detection of silent paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in one patient. Home Monitoring in ICD therapy over 12 months is feasible. The data transmitted relevantly contribute to a remarkable reduction of follow-up burden and enable the individualization of routine follow-up.

Real Time Apnoea Monitoring of Children Using the Microsoft Kinect Sensor: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Al-Naji, Ali; Gibson, Kim; Lee, Sang-Heon; Chahl, Javaan

2017-02-03

The objective of this study was to design a non-invasive system for the observation of respiratory rates and detection of apnoea using analysis of real time image sequences captured in any given sleep position and under any light conditions (even in dark environments). A Microsoft Kinect sensor was used to visualize the variations in the thorax and abdomen from the respiratory rhythm. These variations were magnified, analyzed and detected at a distance of 2.5 m from the subject. A modified motion magnification system and frame subtraction technique were used to identify breathing movements by detecting rapid motion areas in the magnified frame sequences. The experimental results on a set of video data from five subjects (3 h for each subject) showed that our monitoring system can accurately measure respiratory rate and therefore detect apnoea in infants and young children. The proposed system is feasible, accurate, safe and low computational complexity, making it an efficient alternative for non-contact home sleep monitoring systems and advancing health care applications.

Feasibility testing of a home-based sensor system to monitor mobility and daily activities in Korean American older adults.

PubMed

Chung, Jane; Demiris, George; Thompson, Hilaire J; Chen, Ke-Yu; Burr, Robert; Patel, Shwetak; Fogarty, James

2017-03-01

This study aimed to test feasibility of a home-based sensor system that is designed to assess mobility and daily activity patterns among Korean American older adults (KAOAs; n = 6) and explore sensor technology acceptance among participants. Home-based sensors have the potential to support older adults' desire to remain at home as long as possible. Despite a growing interest in using home-based sensors for older adults, there have been no documented attempts to apply this type of technology to a group of ethnic minority older adults. The study employed descriptive, quantitative and qualitative approaches. The system was deployed for 2 months in four homes of KAOAs. Study procedures included (i) sensor-based data collection, (ii) self-report mobility instruments, (iii) activity logs and (iv) interviews. To explore changes in activity patterns, line graphs and sequence plots were applied to data obtained from a set of sensors. General linear models (GLMs) were used for motion in each space of the home to examine how much variability of activities is explained by several time variables. Sensor data had natural fluctuation over time. Different 24-hr patterns were observed across homes. The GLM estimates showed that effect sizes of the time variables vary across individuals. A hydro sensor deployed in one participant's bathroom inferred various water usage activities. Overall, sensors were acceptable for all participants, despite some privacy concerns. Study findings demonstrate that sensor technology applications could be successfully used longitudinally in a minority population of older adults that is not often targeted as an end-user group for the use of innovative technologies. The use of home-based sensors provides nurses with a useful tool to detect deviations from normal patterns and to achieve proactive care for some groups of older adults. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of a portable Linux-based ECG measurement and monitoring system.

PubMed

Tan, Tan-Hsu; Chang, Ching-Su; Huang, Yung-Fa; Chen, Yung-Fu; Lee, Cheng

2011-08-01

This work presents a portable Linux-based electrocardiogram (ECG) signals measurement and monitoring system. The proposed system consists of an ECG front end and an embedded Linux platform (ELP). The ECG front end digitizes 12-lead ECG signals acquired from electrodes and then delivers them to the ELP via a universal serial bus (USB) interface for storage, signal processing, and graphic display. The proposed system can be installed anywhere (e.g., offices, homes, healthcare centers and ambulances) to allow people to self-monitor their health conditions at any time. The proposed system also enables remote diagnosis via Internet. Additionally, the system has a 7-in. interactive TFT-LCD touch screen that enables users to execute various functions, such as scaling a single-lead or multiple-lead ECG waveforms. The effectiveness of the proposed system was verified by using a commercial 12-lead ECG signal simulator and in vivo experiments. In addition to its portability, the proposed system is license-free as Linux, an open-source code, is utilized during software development. The cost-effectiveness of the system significantly enhances its practical application for personal healthcare.

Event Recognition for Contactless Activity Monitoring Using Phase-Modulated Continuous Wave Radar.

PubMed

Forouzanfar, Mohamad; Mabrouk, Mohamed; Rajan, Sreeraman; Bolic, Miodrag; Dajani, Hilmi R; Groza, Voicu Z

2017-02-01

The use of remote sensing technologies such as radar is gaining popularity as a technique for contactless detection of physiological signals and analysis of human motion. This paper presents a methodology for classifying different events in a collection of phase modulated continuous wave radar returns. The primary application of interest is to monitor inmates where the presence of human vital signs amidst different, interferences needs to be identified. A comprehensive set of features is derived through time and frequency domain analyses of the radar returns. The Bhattacharyya distance is used to preselect the features with highest class separability as the possible candidate features for use in the classification process. The uncorrelated linear discriminant analysis is performed to decorrelate, denoise, and reduce the dimension of the candidate feature set. Linear and quadratic Bayesian classifiers are designed to distinguish breathing, different human motions, and nonhuman motions. The performance of these classifiers is evaluated on a pilot dataset of radar returns that contained different events including breathing, stopped breathing, simple human motions, and movement of fan and water. Our proposed pattern classification system achieved accuracies of up to 93% in stationary subject detection, 90% in stop-breathing detection, and 86% in interference detection. Our proposed radar pattern recognition system was able to accurately distinguish the predefined events amidst interferences. Besides inmate monitoring and suicide attempt detection, this paper can be extended to other radar applications such as home-based monitoring of elderly people, apnea detection, and home occupancy detection.

Carers' perceptions of the impact of home telehealth monitoring on the provision of care and sustainability of use.

PubMed

Wade, Rachael; Cartwright, Colleen; Shaw, Kelly

2015-06-01

This paper aims to report carers' perceptions of the impact of home telehealth on the provision of care and the sustainability of home telehealth use. This paper is reporting on a sample of 15 carers who were involved in the telehealth arm of a larger controlled trial. Carers primarily believed that telehealth helped to provide better care. None of the carers had organised, or planned to organise, ongoing telehealth monitoring beyond the study. The main reason given for non-sustained usage was the belief that the person they cared for no longer required, or would benefit from, the monitoring. As the person being cared for was a frail older person with multiple chronic diseases and a history of recent hospitalisation, the non-sustained usage of home telehealth by carers raises questions about what is needed to ensure sustainability of use; this requires further investigation. © 2014 AJA Inc.

Puget Sound Infectious Disease Tracking System

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

DOH "SECURES" communication system. USER NOTES: Must closely monitor the use of automated notifications, at least until the algorithms are...facilities contiguous to the Ft. Lewis, McChord A.F.B, Bremerton Naval Yard, Everett Home Port, and the NAS Whidbey Island. ( Month 1) Completed...prototypes had the technical capacity to host at least 2 years worth of encounter data for the state of Washington, roughly 1-2 million patient

A web-based system for home monitoring of patients with Parkinson's disease using wearable sensors.

PubMed

Chen, Bor-Rong; Patel, Shyamal; Buckley, Thomas; Rednic, Ramona; McClure, Douglas J; Shih, Ludy; Tarsy, Daniel; Welsh, Matt; Bonato, Paolo

2011-03-01

This letter introduces MercuryLive, a platform to enable home monitoring of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using wearable sensors. MercuryLive contains three tiers: a resource-aware data collection engine that relies upon wearable sensors, web services for live streaming and storage of sensor data, and a web-based graphical user interface client with video conferencing capability. Besides, the platform has the capability of analyzing sensor (i.e., accelerometer) data to reliably estimate clinical scores capturing the severity of tremor, bradykinesia, and dyskinesia. Testing results showed an average data latency of less than 400 ms and video latency of about 200 ms with video frame rate of about 13 frames/s when 800 kb/s of bandwidth were available and we used a 40% video compression, and data feature upload requiring 1 min of extra time following a 10 min interactive session. These results indicate that the proposed platform is suitable to monitor patients with PD to facilitate the titration of medications in the late stages of the disease.

Personalized USB Biosensor Module for Effective ECG Monitoring.

PubMed

Sladojević, Srdjan; Arsenović, Marko; Lončar-Turukalo, Tatjana; Sladojević, Miroslava; Ćulibrk, Dubravko

2016-01-01

The burden of chronic disease and associated disability present a major threat to financial sustainability of healthcare delivery systems. The need for cost-effective early diagnosis and disease prevention is evident driving the development of personalized home health solutions. The proposed solution presents an easy to use ECG monitoring system. The core hardware component is a biosensor dongle with sensing probes at one end, and micro USB interface at the other end, offering reliable and unobtrusive sensing, preprocessing and storage. An additional component is a smart phone, providing both the biosensor's power supply and an intuitive user application for the real-time data reading. The system usage is simplified, with innovative solutions offering plug and play functionality avoiding additional driver installation. Personalized needs could be met with different sensor combinations enabling adequate monitoring in chronic disease, during physical activity and in the rehabilitation process.

[The "Susami information sharing system" facilitates cooperation between medical care, nursing care and senior care].

PubMed

Takagaki, Yusaku; Yamamoto, Shuji; Kubo, Mayu; Kunitatsu, Kosei

2014-01-01

Susami is a typical rural town of which about 5,000 with a 40% aging rate, located in the south of Wakayama prefecture. The needs with regard to medical care, nursing care and senior care has been increasing every year. However, there are few staff members involved in such care services. To take better care of our community, we developed the "Susami information sharing system." The subjects consisted of 2,600 people from Susami who provided their consent for their information to be shared. Using the information sharing system, the medical information, including prescriptions, infusions, imaging and laboratory data is automatically extracted from the electronic medical records at Susami hospital. Home nursing information is uploaded by a handheld unit by nurses at home nursing stations. Senior care information is also shared by care workers as part of the Susami social welfare association. Welfare information, including the results of basic medical examinations, cancer screening and vaccination data are uploaded by staff of the government office. Infrared motion sensors are installed in the homes of subjects living on their own to monitor their life activities. All information is collected by a shared host server through each information disclosure server. All information can be seen in the electronic medical records and PC monitors. The Susami government office administers this system under an annual budget, 3,800,000 yen. Most of the budget is the maintenance cost of the infrared motion sensors. The annual administration expense for the system's servers is 680,000 yen. Because the maintenance cost is relatively low, it is not difficult for small-scale governments like that in Susami to maintain this system. In the near future, we will consider allowing other departments and practitioners to connect to our system. This system has strengthened both mutual understanding and cooperation between patients, health care providers, nurses and caregivers.

Telemedicine and cardiac implants: what is the benefit?

PubMed Central

Varma, Niraj; Ricci, Renato Pietro

2013-01-01

Cardiac implantable electronic devices are increasing in prevalence. The post-implant follow-up is important for monitoring both device function and patient condition. However, practice is inconsistent. For example, ICD follow-up schedules vary from 3 monthly to yearly according to facility and physician preference and availability of resources. Recommended follow-up schedules impose significant burden. Importantly, no surveillance occurs between follow-up visits. In contrast, implantable devices with automatic remote monitoring capability provide a means for performing constant surveillance, with the ability to identify salient problems rapidly. Remote home monitoring reduces the volume of device clinic visits and provides early detection of patient and/or system problems. PMID:23211231

Climate Prediction Center - Monitoring & Data: Seasonal ENSO Impacts on

Science.gov Websites

page National Weather Service NWS logo - Click to go to the NWS home page Climate Prediction Center , state and local government Web resources and services. HOME > Monitoring and Data > U.S. Climate and Climate Prediction Climate Prediction Center 5830 University Research Court College Park, Maryland

Smartphone-Based Real-Time Indoor Location Tracking With 1-m Precision.

PubMed

Liang, Po-Chou; Krause, Paul

2016-05-01

Monitoring the activities of daily living of the elderly at home is widely recognized as useful for the detection of new or deteriorating health conditions. However, the accuracy of existing indoor location tracking systems remains unsatisfactory. The aim of this study was, therefore, to develop a localization system that can identify a patient's real-time location in a home environment with maximum estimation error of 2 m at a 95% confidence level. A proof-of-concept system based on a sensor fusion approach was built with considerations for lower cost, reduced intrusiveness, and higher mobility, deployability, and portability. This involved the development of both a step detector using the accelerometer and compass of an iPhone 5, and a radio-based localization subsystem using a Kalman filter and received signal strength indication to tackle issues that had been identified as limiting accuracy. The results of our experiments were promising with an average estimation error of 0.47 m. We are confident that with the proposed future work, our design can be adapted to a home-like environment with a more robust localization solution.

Whole-Home Dehumidifiers: Field-Monitoring Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burke, Tom; Willem, Henry; Ni, Chun Chun

2014-09-23

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) initiated a WHD field-metering study to expand current knowledge of and obtain data on WHD operation and energy consumption in real-world applications. The field study collected real-time data on WHD energy consumption, along with information regarding housing characteristics, consumer behavior, and various outdoor conditions expected to affect WHD performance and efficiency. Although the metering study collected similar data regarding air conditioner operation, this report discusses only WHDs. The primary objectives of the LBNL field-metering study are to (1) expand knowledge of the configurations, energy consumption profiles, consumer patterns of use (e.g., relative humidity [RH] settings),more » and environmental parameters of whole-home dehumidification systems; and (2) develop distributions of hours of dehumidifier operation in four operating modes: off, standby, fan-only, and compressor (also called dehumidification mode). Profiling energy consumption entails documenting the power consumption, duration of power consumption in different modes, condensate generation, and properties of output air of an installed system under field conditions of varying inlet air temperature and RH, as well as system configuration. This profiling provides a more detailed and deeper understanding of WHD operation and its complexities. This report describes LBNL’s whole-home dehumidification field-metering study conducted at four homes in Wisconsin and Florida. The initial phase of the WHD field-metering study was conducted on one home in Madison, Wisconsin, from June to December of 2013. During a second phase, three Florida homes were metered from June to October of 2014. This report presents and examines data from the Wisconsin site and from the three Florida sites.« less

A Novel Secure IoT-Based Smart Home Automation System Using a Wireless Sensor Network.

PubMed

Pirbhulal, Sandeep; Zhang, Heye; E Alahi, Md Eshrat; Ghayvat, Hemant; Mukhopadhyay, Subhas Chandra; Zhang, Yuan-Ting; Wu, Wanqing

2016-12-30

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide noteworthy benefits over traditional approaches for several applications, including smart homes, healthcare, environmental monitoring, and homeland security. WSNs are integrated with the Internet Protocol (IP) to develop the Internet of Things (IoT) for connecting everyday life objects to the internet. Hence, major challenges of WSNs include: (i) how to efficiently utilize small size and low-power nodes to implement security during data transmission among several sensor nodes; (ii) how to resolve security issues associated with the harsh and complex environmental conditions during data transmission over a long coverage range. In this study, a secure IoT-based smart home automation system was developed. To facilitate energy-efficient data encryption, a method namely Triangle Based Security Algorithm (TBSA) based on efficient key generation mechanism was proposed. The proposed TBSA in integration of the low power Wi-Fi were included in WSNs with the Internet to develop a novel IoT-based smart home which could provide secure data transmission among several associated sensor nodes in the network over a long converge range. The developed IoT based system has outstanding performance by fulfilling all the necessary security requirements. The experimental results showed that the proposed TBSA algorithm consumed less energy in comparison with some existing methods.

A Novel Secure IoT-Based Smart Home Automation System Using a Wireless Sensor Network

PubMed Central

Pirbhulal, Sandeep; Zhang, Heye; E Alahi, Md Eshrat; Ghayvat, Hemant; Mukhopadhyay, Subhas Chandra; Zhang, Yuan-Ting; Wu, Wanqing

2016-01-01

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide noteworthy benefits over traditional approaches for several applications, including smart homes, healthcare, environmental monitoring, and homeland security. WSNs are integrated with the Internet Protocol (IP) to develop the Internet of Things (IoT) for connecting everyday life objects to the internet. Hence, major challenges of WSNs include: (i) how to efficiently utilize small size and low-power nodes to implement security during data transmission among several sensor nodes; (ii) how to resolve security issues associated with the harsh and complex environmental conditions during data transmission over a long coverage range. In this study, a secure IoT-based smart home automation system was developed. To facilitate energy-efficient data encryption, a method namely Triangle Based Security Algorithm (TBSA) based on efficient key generation mechanism was proposed. The proposed TBSA in integration of the low power Wi-Fi were included in WSNs with the Internet to develop a novel IoT-based smart home which could provide secure data transmission among several associated sensor nodes in the network over a long converge range. The developed IoT based system has outstanding performance by fulfilling all the necessary security requirements. The experimental results showed that the proposed TBSA algorithm consumed less energy in comparison with some existing methods. PMID:28042831

Monitoring human health behaviour in one's living environment: a technological review.

PubMed

Lowe, Shane A; Ólaighin, Gearóid

2014-02-01

The electronic monitoring of human health behaviour using computer techniques has been an active research area for the past few decades. A wide array of different approaches have been investigated using various technologies including inertial sensors, Global Positioning System, smart homes, Radio Frequency IDentification and others. It is only in recent years that research has turned towards a sensor fusion approach using several different technologies in single systems or devices. These systems allow for an increased volume of data to be collected and for activity data to be better used as measures of behaviour. This change may be due to decreasing hardware costs, smaller sensors, increased power efficiency or increases in portability. This paper is intended to act as a reference for the design of multi-sensor behaviour monitoring systems. The range of technologies that have been used in isolation for behaviour monitoring both in research and commercial devices are reviewed and discussed. Filtering, range, sensitivity, usability and other considerations of different technologies are discussed. A brief overview of commercially available activity monitors and their technology is also included. Copyright © 2013 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effectiveness of a life style modification and peer support home blood pressure monitoring in control of hypertension: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Su, Tin Tin; Majid, Hazreen Abdul; Nahar, Azmi Mohamed; Azizan, Nurul Ain; Hairi, Farizah Mohd; Thangiah, Nithiah; Dahlui, Maznah; Bulgiba, Awang; Murray, Liam J

2014-01-01

Death rates due to hypertension in low and middle income countries are higher compared to high income countries. The present study is designed to combine life style modification and home blood pressure monitoring for control of hypertension in the context of low and middle income countries. The study is a two armed, parallel group, un-blinded, cluster randomized controlled trial undertaken within lower income areas in Kuala Lumpur. Two housing complexes will be assigned to the intervention group and the other two housing complexes will be allocated in the control group. Based on power analysis, 320 participants will be recruited. The participants in the intervention group (n = 160) will undergo three main components in the intervention which are the peer support for home blood pressure monitoring, face to face health coaching on healthy diet and demonstration and training for indoor home based exercise activities while the control group will receive a pamphlet containing information on hypertension. The primary outcomes are systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Secondary outcome measures include practice of self-blood pressure monitoring, dietary intake, level of physical activity and physical fitness. The present study will evaluate the effect of lifestyle modification and peer support home blood pressure monitoring on blood pressure control, during a 6 month intervention period. Moreover, the study aims to assess whether these effects can be sustainable more than six months after the intervention has ended.

Cellular Telephones Measure Activity and Lifespace in Community-Dwelling Adults: Proof of Principle

PubMed Central

Schenk, Ana Katrin; Witbrodt, Bradley C.; Hoarty, Carrie A.; Carlson, Richard H.; Goulding, Evan H.; Potter, Jane F.; Bonasera, Stephen J.

2011-01-01

OBJECTIVES To describe a system that uses off-the-shelf sensor and telecommunication technologies to continuously measure individual lifespace and activity levels in a novel way. DESIGN Proof of concept involving three field trials of 30, 30, and 21 days. SETTING Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan and surrounding rural region. PARTICIPANTS Three participants (48-year-old man, 33-year-old woman, and 27-year-old male), none with any functional limitations. MEASUREMENTS Cellular telephones were used to detect in-home position and in-community location and to measure physical activity. Within the home, cellular telephones and Bluetooth transmitters (beacons) were used to locate participants at room-level resolution. Outside the home, the same cellular telephones and global positioning system (GPS) technology were used to locate participants at a community-level resolution. Physical activity was simultaneously measured using the cellular telephone accelerometer. RESULTS This approach had face validity to measure activity and lifespace. More importantly, this system could measure the spatial and temporal organization of these metrics. For example, an individual’s lifespace was automatically calculated across multiple time intervals. Behavioral time budgets showing how people allocate time to specific regions within the home were also automatically generated. CONCLUSION Mobile monitoring shows much promise as an easily deployed system to quantify activity and lifespace, important indicators of function, in community-dwelling adults. PMID:21288235

Web-based home telemedicine system for orthopedics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, Christopher; Churchill, Sean; Kim, Janice; Matsen, Frederick A., III; Kim, Yongmin

2001-05-01

Traditionally, telemedicine systems have been designed to improve access to care by allowing physicians to consult a specialist about a case without sending the patient to another location, which may be difficult or time-consuming to reach. The cost of the equipment and network bandwidth needed for this consultation has restricted telemedicine use to contact between physicians instead of between patients and physicians. Recently, however, the wide availability of Internet connectivity and client and server software for e- mail, world wide web, and conferencing has made low-cost telemedicine applications feasible. In this work, we present a web-based system for asynchronous multimedia messaging between shoulder replacement surgery patients at home and their surgeons. A web browser plug-in was developed to simplify the process of capturing video and transferring it to a web site. The video capture plug-in can be used as a template to construct a plug-in that captures and transfers any type of data to a web server. For example, readings from home biosensor instruments (e.g., blood glucose meters and spirometers) that can be connected to a computing platform can be transferred to a home telemedicine web site. Both patients and doctors can access this web site to monitor progress longitudinally. The system has been tested with 3 subjects for the past 7 weeks, and we plan to continue testing in the foreseeable future.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arena, Lois

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America research team Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) worked with the EcoVillage cohousing community in Ithaca, New York, on the Third Residential EcoVillage Experience neighborhood. This communityscale project consists of 40 housing units—15 apartments and 25 single-family residences. Units range in size from 450 ft2 to 1,664 ft2 and cost from $80,000 for a studio apartment to $235,000 for a three- or four-bedroom single-family home. For the research component of this project, CARB analyzed current heating system sizing methods for superinsulated homes in cold climates to determine if changes in building load calculationmore » methodology should be recommended. Actual heating energy use was monitored and compared to results from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America’s Manual J8 (MJ8) and the Passive House Planning Package software. Results from that research indicate that MJ8 significantly oversizes heating systems for superinsulated homes and that thermal inertia and internal gains should be considered for more accurate load calculations.« less

Comparison between pulse oximetry and transthoracic impedance alarm traces during home monitoring.

PubMed

Nassi, N; Piumelli, R; Lombardi, E; Landini, L; Donzelli, G; de Martino, M

2008-02-01

To compare transthoracic impedance (TTI/ECG) and pulse oximetry alarm traces detected during home monitoring in infants at risk of apnoea, bradycardia and hypoxaemia. A retrospective evaluation of the monitor downloads of 67 infants who had undergone either TTI/ECG or pulse oximetry home monitoring using a device which can detect both parameters. The patients were categorised as: apparent life-threatening events (n = 39), preterm infants (n = 21) and miscellaneous (n = 7). TTI/ECG and pulse oximetry alarm traces were scored as either true or false alarms. Classification criteria were based on visual analysis of the impedance and plethysmographic waveforms captured by the memory monitor every time alarm thresholds were violated. 5242 alarms occurred over 3452 days of monitoring: 4562 (87%) were false and 680 (13%) true. The mean duration of monitoring was 51 days (range 5-220 days). There were 2982 TTI/ECG false alarms (65% of the total) and 1580 pulse oximetry false alarms (35%) (p = 0.0042). Of the 680 true alarms, 507 (74%) were desaturations not attributable to central apnoea and 173 (26%) were true TTI/ECG alarms (p = 0.0013). Comparison of pulse oximetry and TTI/ECG alarm traces shows that true events were mostly attributable to desaturations, while false alarms were mainly provoked by TTI/ECG. The total number of false alarms is lower than reported in other studies using TTI/ECG only, thus indicating that monitoring using both pulse oximetry and TTI/ECG is suitable for home use. When the combination of both techniques is not feasible or not required, we recommend the use of motion resistant pulse oximetry alone.

A Fleet of Low-Cost Sensor Based Air Quality Monitors Is Used to Measure Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide in Two Settings: In the Ambient Environment to Explore the Regional-Scale Spatial Variability of These Compounds Via a Distributed Network, and in Homes to Investigate How Heating during Winter Months can Impact Indoor Air Quality.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, J. G.; Hannigan, M.; Collier, A. M.; Coffey, E.; Piedrahita, R.

2016-12-01

Affordable, small, portable, quiet tools to measure atmospheric trace gases and air quality enable novel experimental design and new findings. Members of the Hannigan Lab at the University of Colorado in Boulder have been working over the last few years to integrate emerging affordable gas sensors into such an air quality monitor. Presented here are carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements from two field experiments that utilized these tools. In the first experiment, ten air quality monitors were located northeast of Boulder throughout the Denver Julesburg oil and gas basin. The Colorado Department of Health and Environment has several air quality monitoring sites in this broader region, each in an Urban center. One goal of the experiment was to determine whether or not significant spatial variability of EPA criteria pollutants like CO, exists on a sub-regulatory monitoring grid scale. Another goal of the experiment was to compare rural sampling locations with urban sites. The monitors collected continuous data (sampling every 15 seconds) at each location over the course of several months. Our sensor calibration procedures are presented along with our observations and an analysis of the spatial and temporal variability in CO and CO2. In the second experiment, we used eight of our air quality monitors to better understand how home heating fuel type can impact indoor air quality in two communities on the Navajo Nation. We sought to compare air quality in homes using one of four different fuels for heat (wood, wood plus coal, pellet, and gas). There are many factors that contribute to indoor air quality and the impact of an emission source, like a woodstove, within a home. Having multiple, easily deployable, air quality monitors allowed us to account for many of these factors. We sampled four homes at a time, aiming for one home from each of our fuel groups in each sampling period. We sampled inside and outside of each home for a period of 3-4 days. In this way, we hoped to account for possible weather and outdoor air quality biases. CO and CO2 were measured and are put into context with acceptable levels. During periods when there were no emissions of CO and CO2, we used their rates of decay to calculate the home's air exchange rate via the tracer gas technique. The air exchange rate was then used to calculate emission rates for CO.

Rationale and design for the Asia BP@Home study on home blood pressure control status in 12 Asian countries and regions.

PubMed

Kario, Kazuomi; Tomitani, Naoko; Buranakitjaroen, Peera; Chen, Chen-Huan; Chia, Yook-Chin; Divinagracia, Romeo; Park, Sungha; Shin, Jinho; Siddique, Saulat; Sison, Jorge; Soenarta, Arieska Ann; Sogunuru, Guru Prasad; Tay, Jam Chin; Turana, Yuda; Wang, Ji-Guang; Wong, Lawrence; Zhang, Yuqing; Wanthong, Sirisawat; Hoshide, Satoshi; Kanegae, Hiroshi

2018-01-01

Home blood pressure (BP) monitoring is endorsed in multiple guidelines as a valuable adjunct to office BP measurements for the diagnosis and management of hypertension. In many countries throughout Asia, physicians are yet to appreciate the significant contribution of BP variability to cardiovascular events. Furthermore, data from Japanese cohort studies have shown that there is a strong association between morning BP surge and cardiovascular events, suggesting that Asians in general may benefit from more effective control of morning BP. We designed the Asia BP@Home study to investigate the distribution of hypertension subtypes, including white-coat hypertension, masked morning hypertension, and well-controlled and uncontrolled hypertension. The study will also investigate the determinants of home BP control status evaluated by the same validated home BP monitoring device and the same standardized method of home BP measurement among 1600 or more medicated patients with hypertension from 12 countries/regions across Asia. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Literature review on monitoring technologies and their outcomes in independently living elderly people.

PubMed

Peetoom, Kirsten K B; Lexis, Monique A S; Joore, Manuela; Dirksen, Carmen D; De Witte, Luc P

2015-07-01

To obtain insight into what kind of monitoring technologies exist to monitor activity in-home, what the characteristics and aims of applying these technologies are, what kind of research has been conducted on their effects and what kind of outcomes are reported. A systematic document search was conducted within the scientific databases Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane, PsycINFO and Cinahl, complemented by Google Scholar. Documents were included in this review if they reported on monitoring technologies that detect activities of daily living (ADL) or significant events, e.g. falls, of elderly people in-home, with the aim of prolonging independent living. Five main types of monitoring technologies were identified: PIR motion sensors, body-worn sensors, pressure sensors, video monitoring and sound recognition. In addition, multicomponent technologies and smart home technologies were identified. Research into the use of monitoring technologies is widespread, but in its infancy, consisting mainly of small-scale studies and including few longitudinal studies. Monitoring technology is a promising field, with applications to the long-term care of elderly persons. However, monitoring technologies have to be brought to the next level, with longitudinal studies that evaluate their (cost-) effectiveness to demonstrate the potential to prolong independent living of elderly persons. [Box: see text].

A web-based approach for electrocardiogram monitoring in the home.

PubMed

Magrabi, F; Lovell, N H; Celler, B G

1999-05-01

A Web-based electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring service in which a longitudinal clinical record is used for management of patients, is described. The Web application is used to collect clinical data from the patient's home. A database on the server acts as a central repository where this clinical information is stored. A Web browser provides access to the patient's records and ECG data. We discuss the technologies used to automate the retrieval and storage of clinical data from a patient database, and the recording and reviewing of clinical measurement data. On the client's Web browser, ActiveX controls embedded in the Web pages provide a link between the various components including the Web server, Web page, the specialised client side ECG review and acquisition software, and the local file system. The ActiveX controls also implement FTP functions to retrieve and submit clinical data to and from the server. An intelligent software agent on the server is activated whenever new ECG data is sent from the home. The agent compares historical data with newly acquired data. Using this method, an optimum patient care strategy can be evaluated, a summarised report along with reminders and suggestions for action is sent to the doctor and patient by email.