(ECNS) - The eNightLog system for the elderly with dementia designed by a research team at Hong Kong Polytechnic University can track respiration and activities in bed to monitor falls or wandering, Hong Kong media reported.
The multi-function night monitoring system is particularly designed for nursing homes in Hong Kong and will help improve the elderly's quality of life while enhancing the efficiency and lightening the workload of healthcare personnel.
The non-contact and non-invasive system is embedded with event sequence tracking and different kinds of remote sensing and imaging technologies based on an algorithm developed by the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) team at PolyU.
Seventeen systems were installed and tested in a nursing home for two months this year for nighttime monitoring. During the test period, 380 incidences of the elderly leaving bed alone were successfully detected. In addition, the system recorded 525 events of caregivers visiting elderly and accompanying the elderly leaving, an accuracy rate of 100 percent.
The eNightLog system includes a near infrared 3D sensor that tracks residents’ positions and postures and caregivers' visits along with an ultra-wideband (UWB) impulse radar sensor that detects small motions even under a blanket and an environment sensor that provides various ambient measurements and controls, such as for room temperature and lighting.
The activity status of multiple residents is transmitted in the form of text, icons or processed infrared images that display on caregiver computer stations or mobile devices. Signals detected beyond the pre-set range will trigger an alarm for caregivers to take immediate action.
The eNightLog system was awarded a Gold Medal at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva this year.
Professor Zheng Yongping, head of the BME, said the system will cost HK$40,000 to HK$50,000, but he does not yet have a timetable when it will be put on the market.
The research team will soon extend the functions of eNightLog system to detecting heart rate and body temperature, and connect the system with different kinds of smart devices such as an electronic diaper.
