INNOVATION FOR INDEPENDENCE
ISSUE 121 JUNE/JULY 2018 £6.95
Xbox sensors are adapted to track health problems By Dominic Musgrave ARTIFICIAL intelligence combined with Xbox technology is being adapted by scientists to help older people live more safely in their homes. Tiny sensors used in Microsoft Kinect technology, most commonly associated with Wii games, are being fitted into 200 homes across Salford, Greater Manchester, to keep watch over frail people and those with dementia and failing memory. The idea could prove a cheap and unobtrusive way of enabling people to live independently and reduce the number of hospital visits. Artificial intelligence expert at the University of Salford, professor Samia Nefti-Meziani, said: “The basic skeleton model provided by Microsoft Kinect has been used to develop an intelligent personalised care system that offers cost-effective interventions. “By offering personalised predictive analysis, we can assess the progression of disorders and assist clinical decisions with the specific aim of helping older people live longer in their own homes.” “Our software measures and analyses data tracked by the Wii with much greater accuracy than you could spot with the naked eye.
“This can tell us how fast or agilely a person is moving and maybe if they have a problem. “It is also a learning machine which build up an understanding of an individual’s routine and can potentially spot anything unusual. “For instance, if someone has been sitting for longer than usual or if they haven’t been to the kitchen all day.” The sensors have already been fitted into a number of properties at sheltered living schemes in Salford, which provide accommodation for older people, as part of the first research study. Jonathan Drake, service director at Salix Homes, said: “We believe this kind of technology will help elderly people live safely in their homes for longer and reduce the pressures on the NHS and other care services. “With an ageing population we have to look at realistic and affordable solution to tackling the critical health and social care issues of our time.” For the first phase of the study Salford research fellow Dr Ipek Caliskanelli and Caroline Gardner from the University of Manchester are visiting the volunteers at home to collect the data and any personal feedback from the subjects. A second phase would see ‘real-time’ data directly available to clinicians at the hospital.
A robotics company which began as a startup at Bristol Robotics Laboratory has launched the world’s first medically certified 3D printed artificial arms for amputees. After working with NHS England on the first trial of a wearable 3D printed medical device for children and young people, Open Bionics is ready to launch the device commercially in the UK. The Hero Arm, an advanced bionic arm, is small enough to fit children as young as nine years old for the first time. Current bionic limbs are sized for teenagers and adults. Continued on page 6.