Medical Devices: Evidence and Research (Dec 2021)
A New Prototype of Smart Wearable Monitoring System Solution for Alzheimer’s Patients
Abstract
Bassam Al-Naami,1 Hamza Abu Owida,2 Mohammed Abu Mallouh,3 Feras Al-Naimat,2 Moh’d Agha,2 Abdel-Razzak Al-Hinnawi4 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan; 2Department of Medical Engineering, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan; 3Department of Mechatronics Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan; 4Faculty of Sciences, Al-Isra University, Amman, JordanCorrespondence: Bassam Al-NaamiDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hashemite University, PO Box 330127, Zarqa, 13133, JordanFax +962 5 3826348Email [email protected]: The daily life management of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) constitutes a significant and rapidly expanding health-care responsibility. In this study, an innovative prototype of a wireless-sensing smart wearable medical device (SWMD) is proposed as a multi-functions solution for Alzheimer patients. The SWMD is aimed to assemble three main biomedical engineering advances: 1) use of a Wi-Fi microcontroller, 2) simultaneous monitoring of a set of vital biomarkers, and 3) cautions of fall down conditions, in addition to GPS location indicator.Methods: The SWMD employs a Wi-Fi controller that is incorporated with electronic circuits to monitor three vital signals (temperature, heart rate, and oxygen saturation), fall down conditions in three directions (X, Y, and Z axis), and GPS location. The SWMD was connected to the Firebase Service (database hosted on the Internet Cloud). The proposed device was tested on 13 normal volunteers. The left side, right side, forward, and backward fall down conditions were assessed. The prototype’s functions during daily activity such as rising hand, sitting down or standing up, and walking conditions were also assessed.Results: The three assembled functions were all successfully incorporated to build the SWDM device as a suggested solution offering real-time alerts during daily activity to AD patients. The Bland-Altman statistical test showed no significant difference (p-value > 0.05) between the SWMD biomarkers’ acquisition and the reference methods. The gyro/accelerator sensor yielded 93% sensitivity in fall down detection and 95% specificity during daily activities. The GPS yielded correct positioning of the SWDM holder, while the internet cloud allowed saving and managing all vital biomarkers daily.Conclusion: The SWMD is a possible solution for daily life support for AD patients. It incorporates three functions in one single device, GPS location indicator, monitoring set of biomarkers, and fall down alert, which are all controlled via a Wi-Fi micro controller on-line connected to Internet Cloud. It successfully would allow the management of the daily records as well as the real-time alerts to remote persons.Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, smart wearable medical device, fall down alert, Internet Cloud access, health care aids, Wi-Fi micro controller
