SmartSenior
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SmartSenior: step by step towards success.
Here you find concrete solutions of the SmartSenior project. The research results can be assigned into three scenarios.
In the »safe mobility« scenario:
In the »health services« scenario:
In the »longer independence« scenario:
Safe on the go with the enhanced emergency assistance
The enhanced emergency assistance enables greater mobility for seniors through additional security on the go. The system runs on a mobile device, where the seniors' vital data are collected and analysed. Medical sensors, which are integrated in a T-shirt, a wristband, or in the seat of the vehicle, deliver the needed information. By detecting a deviation of vital status, data are transmitted to the telemedical service center (TMC) for control.
If the doctors of the TMC recognise needs for action, the senior will be informed and necessary measures, such as notifying the rescue coordination center or motorway police, will be initiated. By recognising medical emergency, an emergency call with information about the last position of the vehicle is triggered automatically through an eCall. Simultaneously, the emergency stop assistant in the car initiates a safe stop of the vehicle.
The enhanced emergeny assistance was developed by Global Health Care GmbH GHC.
Emergency Stop Assistant
A car is travelling in the outside lane of a busy motorway when the driver suffers a heart attack and can no longer control his vehicle. The car therefore becomes an incalculable hazard for his fellow road users. As part of the “SmartSenior – Intelligent Services for Senior Citizens” research project, BMW Group Research and Technology engineers are developing the Emergency Stop Assistant to combat these types of scenarios. Emergency Stop Assistant is an assistance system that activates an autonomous driving mode when it detects that the driver has a serious medical problem, and carries out a controlled emergency stop. In simple terms, the car switches on the hazard warning lights and manoeuvres carefully – taking into account the traffic around it – to the outer edge of the road, before drawing to a standstill. At the same time, an emergency call is sent out containing the data required to initiate the necessary medical and traffic-related assistance measures. This enables the provision of effective emergency care tailored to the situation at hand. While project partners Siemens and Berlin‟s Charité University Clinic are working on the development of technologies aimed at establishing the driver‟s vital data, BMW Group Research and Technology is responsible for the functional implementation of the automated driving function.
"In the first stage of development we deliberately narrowed down the variety of complex driving situations and developed the Emergency Stop Assistant prototype initially for use on motorways and other similar stretches of road." Dr. Peter Waldmann, Project Manager Emergency Stop Assistant, BMW Group Research and Technology
Additional information and pictures can be found under Press materials or directly on the PressClub pages of the BMW Group Research and Technology.
Secure mobility through enhanced tracking systems
Whether at home, on the go or in a building - in case of an emergency the tracking system is able to locate the senior citizen in every area. Thus, the application provides a secure mobility in everyday life. If it becomes necessary, both vital and position data will be transmitted to a rescue team.
The system was developed by German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI GmbH.
Health care by a telemedical service center
By establishing a telemedical service center different health services are available for senior citizens: tele-monitoring, tele-ward round and telemedical assistance for the scenarios cardiology, pain therapy and peritoneal dialysis. Doctors, therapists, rehabilitation centers and clinics are involved in the procedure.
Via the telemedical service platform (TDPF), which is located in the service center, the seniors' vital data are collected around the clock. The data can be sent from home and on the go. By monitoring the vital signs medical emergencies can be detected and avoided early on.
The service is offered by Telemedicine Center Charité (TMCC).
Stroke rehabilitation and fall prevention via interactive trainer
Via an interactive trainer - a computer-based trainig console -, seniors can accomplish exercises for stroke rehabilitation and fall prevention at home. Different sensors capture the data from the exercises; through a variance analysis the data are edited to therapy-relevant data. The senior steers the program by voice and remote control. Moreover, the therapy is checked by a therapy editor and a doctor-patient-communication is ensured by video conference. The aim of the individual training is to regain lost skills after a stroke and to reduce the risk of falls.
Fraunhofer FIRST, Nuromedia GmbH, DFKI, Otto Bock Health Care, Humotion AG and Geriatrics Research Group at Charité (CFGG) developed the trainer.
Home care assisted peritoneal dialysis
The home care assisted peritoneal dialysis allows the treatment of dialysis patients in their home environment. So hospitalisations and daily transportations can be minimised. The senior benefits from greater independence without having to take over responsibility for the treatment on their own.
A technological environment, developed in cooperation with Vivantes Network for Health GmbH, Siemens AG and prisma GmbH, makes home care possible.
Around the clock the telemedical service center of the Charité receives the patients' vital, health and treatment data, which are sent via med-i-box. The incoming data are stored in an electronic medical record, which is equipped with an automatic alert system. Acute changes can be seen immediately by the doctor. Thus, nursing staff and doctors are continuously informed about the patients' condition, even beyond the doctors' visits. Complications in medical and health care can be reduced; communication between doctors, nursing staff and patients can be optimised.
Standardised transmission of vital data via "Med-I-Box"
The developed transmission platform "Med-I-Box" delivers the seniors' vital data in an ISO 11073 standard to a telemedical center directly out of his or her home. The standardised transmission of vital data gives the opportunity to integrate vital data devices into a unifed infrastructure in a short time.
Thus, a large number of medical devices can be used. On current project status blood pressure, ECG, and scales from different manufacturers are connected to the med-i-box.
The application is provided by prisma GmbH.
Telemonitoring of patients with medication pumps
Via telemonitoring pain therapy can take place at home or on the go. By using the pain diary (prisma GmbH) on the smartphone, the senior sends his or her vital data at specified intervals to the Pain Center Berlin, where the data are monitored.
In critical situations and emergencies the patients’ data are transmitted electronically to the SchmerzAkutDienst (SAD) of the Schnelle Medizinische Hilfe (SMH), who sends the nearest vehicle available to the senior.
A shared server system secures an unobstructed data flow between SMH and SAD.
The rescue team reaches the patient well informed; the transport to the nearest center can be quickly managed.
Overcoming language barriers in doctor-patient communication
The cross-language dialogue system allows communication between doctor and patient, even though both speak different languages. Via a dialog system the questions of the doctor are translated in the patients’ language. At the same time there is a backward translation of the answers.
The system runs on a mobile device and supports a large number of typical doctor-patient dialogues after emergencies and accidents, during a medical transport and a first medical history.
The application was developed by German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI GmbH. The compilation of dialogues took place in cooperation with rescue specialists from SMH GmbH in Berlin.
Identification and prevention of emergency situations in home environment
The integration of sensors, evaluation and response components in home environment allows seniors a secure life in their own home.
The DAI-Labor of the Technical University of Berlin developed self-learning and rule-based detection methods, which analyse through installed sensors seniors’ everyday situations. If a potential source of danger is detected, the senior is informed about it: Adapted to the current situation the information appears on the seniors’ wristband, the smartphone or TV screen.
Simple integrated communication options via audiovisual communication
Via the audiovisual communication system seniors have the opportunity to keep on-goingly in touch with doctors, nurses, friends and relatives.
The systems’ base is a TV with a portal, where the applications can be accessed by using a remote control. The senior can build up a video conference in HD quality e.g. with the nursing staff or open the personal calendar, where a medication reminder and other information and duties are noted.
The portal is a joint development: Alcatel-Lucent programmed the calendar function and hosts the server; Fraunhofer FIRST developed the applications that run as a modular system on the portal; GEWOBA WVP presents the model homes, where the system components are tested for their practicality.
AAL Home Gateway – comfortable and safe use of services at home
The Home Gateway for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is a core component of an overall service platform and the central data and communication hub in the SmartSenior home.
The AAL Home Gateway was developed by Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories as a base component in a cross-linked home for access to AAL services in the net. Thus social, neighborhood-based or household-related services are available. The architecture, based on international standards, is open, expandable and secure, and enables the integration of new services.
Different and yet separate applications and services such as telemedical service center or a home care service can be brought into seniors home through the home gateway. Elderly people can use the services more easily and live longer independently in their own homes.
Simple software update
The remote management platform manages the installation, updating and uninstalling of applications on smartphones and thus simplifies the use of technology significantly.
Seniors can subscribe and unsubscribe applications for their smartphone, e.g. call for assistance or vital signs, either via TV portal or phone. The subscribed SmartSenior applications are installed on the phone without further action by the senior and displayed on the welcome page.
jambit Software Development & Management GmbH was responsible for the development of the platform.
Support in social networking
Via a TV portal seniors with common interests can get to know each other.
A recommendation system that analyses user profiles, proposes seniors people with similar interests. As the need arises they can get in touch via the TV portal. Afterwards they can watch TV together.
While collecting a user profile, the system considers the information about the seniors' media consumption as well as the captured interests, e.g. hobbies. The given data are compared with data of other seniors in the background. Finally people with similar interests are selected and recommended.
The recommendation system was developed by DAI Laboratory at the Technical University of Berlin.
