Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment

Acronym of the case:

Caalyx

Web address of the case:

http://www.caalyx.eu

Country of the case:

Germany , Ireland , Italy , Portugal , Spain , United Kingdom

City/region:

Spain

Posting Date:

1 March 2010

Last Edited Date:

02 March 2010

Author:

Manuel Escriche (TelefÃ³nica InvestigaciÃ³n y Desarrollo)

wearable light device | mobile phone | central care service

Type of initiative

Project or service

Case Abstract

Europe faces a social change, which is brought about by the unprecedented demographic change: the share of elderly people to the entire population is steadily growing, while the share of the youngest, especially the working population is shrinking. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), as a specific user-oriented type of "Ambient Intelligence", may greatly help in this situation. AAL aims at prolonging the time people can live in an acceptable and more independent way; this result can be reached by increasing their autonomy and self-confidence, by allowing them to discharge everyday activities, by improving the monitoring and care of the elderly or ill person and enhancing their security while ultimately saving resources.

In this context, the main objective is to develop a wearable light device able to measure specific vital signs of the elder or ill person, to detect falls and to communicate autonomously in real time with his/her caregiver in case of an emergency, wherever they are. The emergency information can be directed to the personal caregiver and/or the 112 Emergency Service providing both location and data on the health conditions of the elder. The incorporation of largely non-intrusive new sensors for fall detection and highly sensitive geo-positioning is expected to address many of the elderly persons concerns about adopting technology.

The monitoring device for the caregiver can range from a mobile phone and/or a more complex system so that an integrated care-giving service can be created to look after groups of elders. In this case, when monitoring the elder at home, the system will be complemented with other devices such as cameras. The system will be tested in a real usability site arranged through a social programme for elderly persons, and will obtain reliable assessment by gathering real end usersâ€™ feedback.

Description of the case

Domain

eInclusion

Topic

ICT and Aging

Sector

Healthcare | Social Services

Date

January 2007 to December 2008

Date operational

October 2008

Target Users

Older people (60+) | People with health and long-term care problems

Target Users Description

Main target users are elderly people; although in good health conditions, they would reach a stage when they may become concerned about their own health. This mental state often leads them to reduce their physical and social activities, with a consequent negative effect on their general well-being.

Scope

Local (city or municipality) | National | Pan-European

Status

Ended

Language(s)

English

Policy Context and Legal Framework

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

IT infrastructures and products

Overall Implementation approach

Partnerships between administration and/or private sector and/or non-profit sector

Technology choice

Standards-based technology

Funding source

Public funding EU

Project size

Implementation: €1,000,000-5,000,000

Yearly cost:

€1,000,000-5,000,000

Implementation and Management Approach

European consortium for an EU funded project in FP6

Technology solution

In the Caalyx system, specific physical signs of the elderly person are constantly measured by a set of sensors packed into a Wearable Light Device; other physical signs are measured on a personalised schedule by other sensors at home, where a Home System allows the elderly person to verify his/her health progress and health agenda and to communicate with their caregivers at anytime.

A Nintendo Wii controller enables operation with the Home system, whose user interface is displayed on the TV. The sensors have been specifically selected to detect the most relevant health conditions in the targeted elderly person.

Based on the data gathered by the Wearable Light Device, a smart phone is constantly searching for personalised health condition patterns, sending an alert in case any health condition is found. The alert thresholds and the health condition patterns have been specifically adapted to the elder population and can be further tuned to each individual by his/her practitioner. The alert, received by the caregiver, draw attention and call for assistance from a number of people including relatives, physicians and emergency services, beside the caregiver who is always on-line.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

The system disposes of several Innovative features:

Five vital signs monitored while mobile: heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, temperature, mobility and detection of falls;
Respect of the elderly personâ€™s privacy; their location is reported only in case of alert;
Regular monitoring of the health conditions based on a combination of vital signs;
Alert thresholds can be individually customized;
A learning artificial intelligence module helps the caregiver to identify false alerts and to select the best candidate response to help the elderly person;
The system is built on a Service Oriented Architecture;
HL7 security framework has been implemented to ensure the elderly personâ€™s privacy;
Mobility report shows four states: walking/steeping, sitting, lying and standing;
Enhanced fall detection algorithm has been incorporated;
An integrated video-call communication tool is available for all persons involved in caring for the elder: relatives, caregiver and the personal physician;
An intuitive Home System, operated via TV using a Nintendo Wii controller.

Lessons learnt

Elderly people are enthusiastic and willing to cooperate in these projects;
The usability aspects are a fundamental aspect of the user experience; if they are not satisfactory, research issues are not assessed properly;
The system validation at medical level needs a dedicated project to be completed.

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Showing 2 comments

Bart Collet

Great project, with whom are you working together in Belgium?

09 March 2010 | 1948 Visits | Rating: 3.5 (maximum:5)

I've been following the proceedings of Caalyx with great interest.

The project is mentioned in two of my presentations as examples with great mhealth potential.

http://www.slideshare.net/BartCollet/non-invasive-health-monitoring-with-mhealth

http://www.slideshare.net/BartCollet/mhealth-is-huge

I was wondering with which firms the project is working together in Belgium.

Thank you for your answer.

Manuel Escriche

Thanks Bart!

15 March 2010 | 0 Visit | Rating: No votes

Thanks Bart for the comments.

I have also enjoyed and found interesting the project for some years. You know it continues in two initiatives eCaalyx and Caalyx-mv.

Let me inform that closest partner is based in Germany. Apart from direct links partners such as Corscient might have in Belgium, as far as I know there's no direct relationship with Belgium.

If any further information or help were needed, please, don't hesitate to reply.

Sorry for late answer!

Manuel