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ABSTRACT: Purpose: This study investigates whether motion density maps based on passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors and the average time out and average density per hour measures of the density map are sensitive enough to detect changes in mental health over time. Method: Within the sensor network, data are logged from PIR motion sensors which capture motion events as people move around the home. If there is continuous motion, the sensor will generate events at 7 second intervals. If the resident is less active, events will be generated less frequently. A web application displays the data as activity density maps showing events per hour with hours on the vertical axis and progressive days on the horizontal axis. Color and intensity provide textural indications of time spent away from home and activity level. Texture features from the co-occurrence matrix are used to capture the periodicity pattern of the activity (including homogeneity, local variation, and entropy) and are combined with the average motion density per hour and the average time away from home. The similarity of two different density maps is represented by a number that is computed in feature space as the distance from one map to the other, or a measure of dis-similarity. Employing a retrospective approach, density maps were compared with health assessment information (Geriatric Depression Scale, Mini Mental State Exam, and Short Form Health Survey -12) to determine congruence between activity pattern changes and the health information20. A case by case study method, analyzed the density maps of 5 individuals with identified mental health issues. These density maps were reviewed along with the averages of time out of apartment per day per hour and average density per hour for hours at home and mental health assessment scores to determine if there were activity changes and if activity patterns reflected changes in mental health conditions. Results & Discussion: The motion density maps show visual changes in the client’s activity, including circadian rhythm, time away from home, and general activity level (sedentary vs. puttering). The measures are sensitive enough, yielding averages of time out of apartment and average density per hour for hours at home that indicate significant change. There is evidence of congruence with health assessment scores. This pilot study demonstrates that density maps can be used as a tool for early illness detection. The results indicate that sensor technology has the potential to augment traditional health care assessments and care coordination.
Gerontechnology 01/2013; 11(3):457-468.
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ABSTRACT: Many older adults in the US prefer to live independently for as long as they are able, despite the onset of conditions such as frailty and dementia. Sensor networks have emerged in the last decade, together with telehealth and internet based electronic health records (EHR), as a possible solution to older adult health monitoring. Many commercial solutions for EHRs, telehealth monitoring and sensor networks are available but, as far as we know, no integrated system exists. In this paper we present an integrated eldercare EHR system (IEEHR) that merges health data with sensor and telehealth (vital signs) measurements. The benefit of an EEHR system is three fold: provides physicians a wider gamut of tools for chronic disease management, reduces nursing workload and allows the development of health context aware algorithms for predictive health assessment. In this paper we present the integrated EEHR system we are developing at TigerPlace, an assisted living community in Columbia, Missouri. Several examples of possible applications are also presented.
e-Health Networking Applications and Services (Healthcom), 2011 13th IEEE International Conference on; 07/2011
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ABSTRACT: Falls are a major cause of injury in the elderly with almost 1/3<sup>rd</sup> of people aged 65 and more falling each year. This work aims to use gait measurements from everyday living environments to estimate risk of falling and enable improved interventions. For this purpose, we consider the use of low-cost pulse-Doppler range control radar. These radars can continuously acquire data during normal activity of a person in night and day conditions and even in the presence of obstructing furniture. A short-time Fourier transform of the radar data reveals unique Doppler signatures from the torso motion and the leg swings. Two algorithms that can extract these features from the radar spectrogram are proposed in this study for estimating gait velocity and stride durations. The performance of the proposed radar system is evaluated with experimental data, which consists of 9 different walk types and a total of 27 separate tests. A high accuracy motion-capture camera system has also been used to acquire data simultaneously with the radar and provides the ground truth reference. Results indicate that the proposed radar system is a viable candidate for gait characterization and can be used to accurately track mean gait velocity, mean stride duration and stride duration variability. The gait velocity variability can also be estimated but with relatively larger error levels.
Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops (PERCOM Workshops), 2011 IEEE International Conference on; 04/2011
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ABSTRACT: In this paper, we present results of an automatic vision-based gait assessment tool, using two cameras. Elderly residents from TigerPlace, a retirement community, were recruited to participate in the validation and test of the system in scripted scenarios representing everyday activities. The residents were first tested on a GAITRite mat, an electronic walkway that captures footfalls, and with inexpensive web cameras recording images. The extracted gait parameters from the camera system were compared with the GAITRite; excellent agreement was achieved. The residents then participated in the scenarios, with only the cameras recording. We found that the residents displayed different gait patterns during the realistic scenarios compared to the GAITRite runs. This finding provides support of the importance and advantage of continuous gait assessment in a daily living environment. Results on 4 elderly participants are included in the paper.
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2009. EMBC 2009. Annual International Conference of the IEEE; 10/2009
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ABSTRACT: In this paper, we propose a real-time system for in-home activity monitoring and functional assessment for elder care. We describe the development of the whole system which could be used to assist the independent living of elders and improve the efficiency of elder care practice. With this system, data is collected, silhouettes extracted, features further analyzed and visualized into graphs from which eldercare professionals are able to understand massive video monitoring data within a short period of time. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system is efficient in indoor elder activities monitoring and easily utilized by eldercare professionals.
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2009. EMBC 2009. Annual International Conference of the IEEE; 10/2009
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ABSTRACT: Significant declines in quality of life for elders in assisted living communities are typically triggered by health events. Given the necessary information, such events can often be predicted, and thus, be avoided or reduced in severity. Statistics on activities of daily living and activity level over an extended period of time provide important data for functional assessment and health prediction. However, persistent activity monitoring and continuous collection of this type of data is extremely labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly. In this work, we propose a method for automated estimation of activity levels based on silhouettes segmented from video data, and subsequent extraction of higher order information from the silhouettes. By building a regression model from this higher order information, our system can automatically estimate elder activity levels.
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2009. EMBC 2009. Annual International Conference of the IEEE; 10/2009
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ABSTRACT: Video-based tracking of contours on the human body has been shown to be useful for many applications, including gait and gesture recognition, posture estimation, and activity analysis. We present a contour tracking method that incorporates a novel edge feature and fuzzy contour template. We apply our method in tracking the motions of older adults exercising in a gym environment. The output of our system is a dynamic fuzzy representation of the spine angle of the subject. We show that the method described in this paper is capable of tracking contours even in cases where human silhouette extraction is poor.
Fuzzy Systems, 2009. FUZZ-IEEE 2009. IEEE International Conference on; 09/2009
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ABSTRACT: We developed a novel markerless motion capture system and explored its use in documenting elder exercise routines in a health club. This system uses image contour tracking and swarm intelligence methods to track the location of the spine and shoulders during three exercises - treadmill, exercise bike, and overhead lateral pull-down. Preliminary results of our qualitative study demonstrate that our system is capable of providing important feedback about the posture and stability of elders while they are performing exercises. Study participants indicated that feedback from this system would add value to their exercise routines.
Computational Intelligence for Visual Intelligence, 2009. CIVI '09. IEEE Workshop on; 05/2009
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Gerontechnology 2008. 01/2008; 7(2):67.
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ABSTRACT: We have placed a network of sensors in a residential home for the elderly who are aging in place. Restlessness data is displayed as graph of event counts detected by sensors over some time interval, typically a day. This data is related to the actual activities as recorded by the resident. We show two cases of elderly individuals. In both cases the individuals underwent surgery. The restlessness indicators showed changes in patterns that were related to those events. Analyzing the data even at this level we gain increased confidence that technology will be a welcome addition as the population ages and require increasing care.
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2007. EMBS 2007. 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE; 09/2007
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ABSTRACT: Americans are living longer, and research shows that seniors are embracing independence, and will benefit from living in the same place. These are the rationale for 'Aging in Place' and the development of Tiger Place, an 'Aging in Place' Environment in Columbia Missouri. Our goal is to minimize intrusion, allow the resident complete control over privacy and treatment (if any), and to provide substantive improvement in quality of life. Nevertheless there continues to be significant risks to the elderly which results in reduced functional and cognitive activity. While there has been much technology developed to ameliorate these factors, there is no comprehensive evaluation of the benefit of these devices nor a comprehensive strategy to improve the quality of life of seniors as determined by functional ability and possibly later cognitive ability. With our partners at the University of Virginia we are developing a system of sensors, to monitor the activity of seniors in their residences. We measure motion, footfalls, sleep and restlessness, we have stove sensors and sensing mats, all connected wirelessly to a computer which performs an initial evaluation and data transfer to a secure server for further study. Based upon the monitor data we will implement an intervention to ameliorate functional decline. Focus group studies determine the attitudes, concerns and impressions of the residents and staff. We find that senior's attitude to technology is healthy and they will try helpful approaches. In addition to the statistical comparisons, we model the data using hidden Markov models, integrate or fuse the monitor data with video images, and reason about behavior using fuzzy logic. The results of this work will additionally reduce the workload on caregivers, foster communication between residents and family, and give these seniors independence. We have requested and received IRB approval for this study
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2006. EMBS '06. 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE; 10/2006
