Towards Practical Use of Bedside Sensing/Voice-Calling System for Preventing Falls

Abstract

The authors have been studying a bedside sensing/voice-calling system for older adults to prevent falls. The basic tasks of the system are as follows: i) monitoring the behavior of an older adult on a bed, ii) voice-calling the older adult by using a bedside robot agent when detecting any activity that leads to leaving the bed, iii) letting the older adult to postpone leaving the bed with the voice-call, and iv) launching nurse calls to allow nurses/caregivers to attend to the older adult, before the older adult leaves the bed. First, the hardware design and function of the voice-calling agent were confirmed from a safety viewpoint. Second, the content of the voice call was studied in terms of an acceptability. Lastly, the integrated system was introduced into hospitals and care facilities to examine its serviceability. Nevertheless, it is important to consider the reliability and flexibility of the system in meeting its various use conditions, before it can be introduced in real medical/care environments. Moreover, adequate attention should be given to the usability of the sensing/voice-calling system for operators, such as nurses/caregivers. This paper deals with the design detail of the bedside sensing/voice-calling system, with an emphasis on its reliability and flexibility. First, the background and basic concept of the research are introduced, and an outline of the system is presented. Second, the mechanism of the robot agent installed in the vicinity of the bed is detailed. Third, the controller hardware and software architectures are described. Regarding the controller software, i) the receipt of data from sensors, ii) analysis of the data to detect the behavior of the person on the bed, and iii) control of the robot agent to issue appropriate voice-call contents are explained. Finally, the preliminary use test results of the system, which were obtained in an experimental environment and a hospital, to see the response of older adults, are briefly discussed.