Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

ABSTRACT

A huge amount of people suffering from Alzheimer’s and similar cognitive disabilities have been reported
to be missing every year. As a result, the person suffering from dementia frequently requires monitoring
of his/her present location. Thus, to improve the quality of life of such people and their families, a reliable
and economic tracking system is needful. There is a need for constant monitoring and assistance,
intervention, and support, causing a considerable financial and human burden on individuals and their
caregivers. Interconnected sensing technology, such as IoT wearables and devices, present a promising
solution for objective, reliable, and remote monitoring, assessment, and support through ambient assisted
living. The purpose of this proposed system is to integrate GPS systems with a microcontroller for
real-time tracking of Alzheimer’s patients in order to ensure their safety when they go outside of their
house. The global coordinates of a location of the patient will be sent to the Android app in the caretaker's
mobile phone. A warning is sent to the caretaker if the patient goes beyond a preset radius. The dosage
and name of the medicine notification is sent to the device and displayed on the app. An SOS button is
also placed on the wearable which can be used in time of crisis to notify the caretaker. In case of collapse
of the patient, the fall is detected and the caretaker will be alerted and emergency care can be addressed.
Simple routine reminders are also displayed on the display.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

INTRODUCTION

Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive
abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia that leads to
memory problems, thinking and orientation in space. As a rule, the symptoms gradually develop and
worsen slightly over time, becoming difficult enough for the daily routine. Alzheimer’s is a type of
memory disorder which occurs by brain cell death. Therefore, dementia patients are unable to continue
their normal social [Link] disease can be controlled if it is diagnosed at an early stage. Therefore, early
detection of Alzheimer’s is essential for the treatment of patients. Usually, people living with the patient
can diagnose Alzheimer’s due to changes that are happening in the patient’s behaviors and cognitive
impair-ment (loss of cognitive abilities). The purpose of this system is to design a wearable for
monitoring people diagnosed with Alzheimer's [Link] device tracks the real time location of the
patient, detects the fall of the patient and gives medicinal reminders to the patient through the led display
provided on the wearable.

The evolution of Alzheimer's is gradual, the patient becoming incoherent and slightly confused,
the symptoms of dementia gradually worsen over the years. In the early stages, memory loss occurs
gradually, but with Alzheimer's in the late stages, individuals lose the ability to continue a conversation,
respond to the environment and remember common things. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death
in the United States, with 9.4 million patients diagnosed, and in Europe the number of patients exceeds 10
million. On average, a person with Alzheimer's can live with this diagnosis for a period of 4 to 8 years,
depending on other factors that may contribute to this condition.

Currently, there is no large-scale treatment for Alzheimer's, but a number of symptomatic

treatments are available, and many researches are ongoing to improve the quality of life by temporarily
slowing the worsening symptoms of dementia. Currently, we are witnessing a worldwide effort to prevent
the onset of this condition and to find new treatment modalities. Using technology in patient’s everyday
life can help to maintain their independence, keep safe, and stay active and involved. Technology used in
this way is known as ‘assistive technology’.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually
people experience greater memory loss and other cognitive difficulties. Problems can include wandering
and getting lost and taking longer to complete normal daily tasks. The aim is to design a wearable device
to monitor the position (location) of the patient continuously. The caretaker is notified when the patient
wanders out of the preset coordinates. It also helps in detection of a collapse of the patient and gives
updates to the caretaker over the app. This system also provides reminders to the patient for taking their
medications on time on the LED display provided on the wearable. SOS button is to be pressed by the
patient in case of an emergency.

OBJECTIVES
● The project will consist a functional wearable that can be worn on a wrist
● Real-time update of the location of the patient
● Provides updates on medications.
● Preset routine reminders are sent to the display of the wearable.
● SOS button is provided for the emergency alert.
● Fall detection and notification alert to the caretaker's phone.
● O-LED display to display messages.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

MOTIVATION
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in 60-70% of cases, leads to dementia. The word dementia refers to a set of
symptoms that can include memory loss and difficulty in thinking. One of the ways that Alzheimer's
patients cope with memory loss is to cultivate a daily routine. As the disease gradually impairs a person's
ability to plan, initiate, and complete activities, familiar environments and actions on a predictable
schedule can prevent them from becoming distracted. But even with a routine, Alzheimer's patients can
forget what they were doing and potentially hurt themselves. According to The Alzheimer's Association,
three out of every five Alzheimer's patients will wander at some point in their struggle with the disease. If
they aren't found within 24 hours, they have a 50% chance of being seriously injured. Falls are a major
reason for injuries, and they are potentially fatal. Our system focuses on tracking the patient continuously
so that he/she doesn't wander too far. A radius is set using latitude and longitude coordinates and if the
patient goes out of it the caretaker is notified. The system even gives preset reminders for medicines and
routine. The SOS button can be pressed by the patient in the time of crisis.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

METHODOLOGY

The proposed system aims to assist in the daily life of a patient diagnosed with Alzheimer’s so that the
patient can rely less on the caretaker. This device acquires all the data from the sensors and the modules
attached. The development platform used is Arduino. The program loaded on the Node MCU has the role
of warning the caretaker when the patient goes out of the certain radius. The band consists of the
ESP8266, a low-cost [Wi-Fi] microchip, with built-in [TCP/IP networking software], and
[microcontroller] capability, produced by [Espressif Systems] China. It enables applications that require a
constant update of sensor data to a cloud server, making it best suitable for IoT projects. The Ublox Neo
M8N GPS is the module used to determine the exact location of the patient. It gives the real time location
of the patient over the app, so the caretaker knows the exact location of the patient. The MPU6050
module is used for fall detection of the patient. A notification is sent to the caretaker’s phone through the
app when fall is detected so that the caretaker can contact the nearest hospital and get the medical
attention that is needed to the patient. An O-LED display of .96 inches with I2C protocol is addressed to
produce medication updates. A tactile momentary push button switch is placed in use of the emergency
situation, to alert the caretaker. Actuators like buzzers and vibration motors are triggered during hazards,
like fall or user going missing from programmed location.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

NodeMCU ESP8266 D1-Mini Wi-Fi Development Board

The D1 Mini is a breadboard-compatible WiFi development board based on the ESP8266. This board is
compatible with the Arduino IDE and with NodeMCU. All of the I/O pins have interrupt, PWM, I2C, and
one-wire capability, except for pin D0

Ublox NEO M8N GPS Module

This is a new generation NEO-M8N High Precision GPS Module with Built-in Compass for PIXHAWK
and APM FC with onboard Compass, low power consumption, and high precision, the ultimate accuracy
is 0.6 meters, actually almost 0.9 meters, greater than the previous generation NEO-7N 1.4-1.6 meters
accuracy.

The MPU-6050
The MPU-6050 parts are the world’s first MotionTracking devices designed for the low power, low cost,
and high-performance requirements of smartphones, tablets and wearable sensors. MPU6050 is a Micro
Electro-mechanical system (MEMS), it consists of a three-axis accelerometer and three-axis gyroscope. It
helps us to measure velocity, orientation, acceleration, displacement and other motion like features

Vibration Motor
It’s a mini vibration motor suitable as a non-audible indicator. It consists of a one-coin type motor which
is a permanent magnet coreless DC motor. When the input logic is HIGH, the motor is ON and it vibrates
just like your cell phone in silent mode. When LOW, the motor is OFF. The vibration intensity of the
motor can be controlled by PWM. This motor is very easy to drive and It is reliable.

OLED Display
It is perfect when you need an ultra-small display. Compared to LCD, OLED screens are way more
competitive, which has a number of advantages such as high brightness, self-emission, high contrast ratio,
slim outline, wide viewing angle, wide temperature range, and low power consumption. It is compatible
with any 3.3V-5V microcontroller, such as Arduino.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

The open-source Arduino Software (IDE) makes it easy to write code and upload it to the board. It runs
on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The environment is written in Java and based on Processing and
other open-source software.

This software can be used with any Arduino [Link] Arduino Integrated Development Environment is
a cross-platform application that is written in functions from C and C++. It is used to write and upload
programs to Arduino compatible boards.

BLYNK APP

Blynk was designed for the Internet of Things. It can control hardware remotely, it can display sensor
data, it can store data, visualize it and do many other [Link] are three major components in the
platform:

Blynk App - allows you to create amazing interfaces for your projects using various widgets we provide.
Blynk Server - responsible for all the communications between the smartphone and hardware. You can
use our Blynk Cloud or run your private Blynk server locally. It’s open-source, could easily handle
thousands of devices and can even be launched on a Raspberry Pi.
Blynk Libraries - for all the popular hardware platforms - enable communication with the server and
process all the incoming and outcoming commands

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

EXPECTED RESULTS
● The wearable device will track real-time updates of the location of the patient.
● A notification is sent to the caretaker if the patient goes beyond a certain radius.
● A reminder for medications and their dosage and a few routine reminders is sent and displayed on
the wearable.
● SOS button is provided on the wearable, if the patient presses the button a notification is sent to
the caretaker’s phone via the app.
● If the wearable detects fall/collapse of the patient, a notification is sent to the app.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

ADVANTAGES
● Prevents the hazards and accidents that may result in the effect of dementia patients missing.
● Timely medication alerts can help patients maintain health and avoid casualties that can happen
for not having timely medicine.
● Preset routine reminders are sent to the OLED display to remind the patient of their work.
● Caretakers can live a stress-free life and not be worried about the status of patients all the time.
● In situations of patients falling during night times which happens in most cases of patients waking
up due to nocturia, the caretaker will be alerted and emergency care can be addressed.
● Enhance quality of life of affected patients and dependency for continuous monitoring by
caretakers can be lowered.

LIMITATIONS
● The band should be worn all the time, this can be a hindrance for tasks and during sleeping hours.
● The band requires constant charging after a few days of use.
● Failure of losing the device or damage can result in great damage.
● The band requires a constant internet network for its working, failure in the connection will not
update the data to the caretaker's phone.
● Any human errors will limit the band's functionality.

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Implementation of Wearable Device for Monitoring Alzheimer’s Patients

REFERENCES
[1] Alzheimer’s Association. 2016 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures. Alzheimer’s & Dementia
2016.
[2] Miss. Smita S. Auti, Prof. Nagnath B. Hulle, “Advanced shoes with embedded position tracking and
path guidance to keep track of Alzheimer’s patients' ', International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015.
[3] Sara Paivaa, Carlos Abreua, “Low Cost GPS Tracking for the Elderly and Alzheimer Patients”,
HCIST 2012 - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and
Technologies, Procedia Technology 5 ( 2012 ) 793 – 802.
[4] Robert P. O’Brien, Srinivas Katkoori, and Meredeth A. Rowe,“Design and Implementation of an
Embedded System for Monitoring At-home Solitary Alzheimer’s Patients”, Circuits and Systems
(MWSCAS), 2015 IEEE 58th International Midwest Symposium.
[5] Yao-Jen Chang, Chien-Nien Chen, Li-Der Chou, “A Novel Indoor Wayfinding System Based on
Passive RFID for Individuals with Cognitive Impairments”, Pervasive Computing Technologies for
Healthcare, 2008. Second International Conference
[5] Barri Khojasteh, S.; Villar, J.R.; de la Cal, E.; González, V.M.; Sedano, J.; Yazgan, H.R. Evaluation of
a Wrist-Based Wearable Fall Detection Method; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2018;
[6] Robert Fuior, Doru Andrițoi, Cătălina Luca, Călin Corciovă “Intelligent Portable Monitoring and
Assistance Device in Alzheimer” , University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Grigore T. Popa”, Str.
Universitatii 16, Iasi, Romania, November 21-23, 2019

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