elderly people’s telemonitoring system using broadband ... · elderly age 65 or older ranges from...

APT J2 Final Report: Elderly People’s Telemonitoring System using Broadband Network 1

APT HRD Programme for Exchange of ICT Researchers/Engineers through

Collaborative Research 2010 (J2)

Elderly People’s Telemonitoring System using Broadband Network

Final Report

May 2012


Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 3

2. Project Information ............................................................................................................ 3

2.1. Introduction................................................................................................................. 3

2.2. Objectives .................................................................................................................... 4

2.3. Project Team ............................................................................................................... 4

3. Summary of the Financial Statement ................................................................................. 5

4. Summary of the Project Activities ...................................................................................... 5

4.1. General Project Activities ............................................................................................ 6

4.2. Exchange Activities ...................................................................................................... 6

4.2.1. Visit by NICT Japan Medical ICT Experts to Malaysia .......................................... 6

4.2.2. Study visit to Japan ............................................................................................ 12

4.3. Prototype Development ............................................................................................ 20

4.3.1. Development of Walking Style Detection Algorithm (UTAR) ............................ 20

4.3.2. Development of Visual Based Fall Detection (MMU) ........................................ 25

4.3.3. Development of Integrated Telehealth System (MMU & UTAR) ...................... 26

5. Project Deliverables/Outputs ........................................................................................... 29

6. Impacts of the Project ...................................................................................................... 30

7. Project Sustainability ........................................................................................................ 30

8. Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................ 30

9. Future Plan........................................................................................................................ 30

10. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 31


1. Executive Summary

With the worldwide increase of elderly population, especially developed countries like Japan,

the falls of the elderly population at home is becoming a serious social problem. According

to a research carried out, 32% of the elderly with age of 75 or above have ever fallen at least

once a year, and among them, 24% was seriously injured. In other words, almost one third

of the elderly population fall at least once a year and 20–30 percent of the falls cause

injuries that require medical attention. A survey carried out by the World Health

Organization (WHO) shows that the average hospitalization cost for fall related injury for

elderly age 65 or older ranges from 7,000 USD to 17,000 USD and this could be huge

financial burden to the government, national health body or the immediate family members

of the elderly. It is thus the main intention of this J2 project to carry out a research project

on remote healthcare monitoring of the elderly, with a focus on fall prevention and

detection through exchange of human resource between Japan and Malaysia and prototype

development. This project can be divided into two parts, namely human resource

development through exchange of researchers and prototype development. The first part,

exchange of researchers, involved dispatch of Medical ICT experts from NICT Japan to

Malaysia and a study visit to Japan by Malaysia researchers. The second part, prototype

development, involved development of walking style analyzing and vision based fall

detection prototype and prototype testing at Multimedia University’s Digital Home Lab. The

project was completed successfully and this report presents the project details, final

outcome and impact of the project.

2. Project Information

This section presents the project information. Section 2.1 gives an overall introduction of

this project, followed by project objectives in Section 2.2 and project team members in

Section 2.3.

2.1. Introduction

This J2 project consists of two parts, one is exchange of researchers between Japan and

Malaysia in Medical ICT field and the other is telehealth system prototype development. The

exchange of researchers between Japan and Malaysia was conducted by short visit of

Medical ICT experts from NICT Japan to Malaysia and study visit of Malaysia researchers to

Japan. In the system prototype development part, an elderly people’s tehealth prototype

system has been designed and developed, with the testing of the prototype system at

Digital Home Lab at Multimedia University. The telehealth monitoring system consists of

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) from Japan, intelligent vision based home surveillance

& fall detection developed by Multimedia University (MMU) and intelligent walking style

analyzing developed by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR).


2.2. Objectives

The project objectives of this J2 project are the following:

i. To design and develop a telehealth system using broadband networks for the elderly.

ii. To design and develop a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) that is able to analyze

the walking styles of the elderly.

iii. To develop abnormal walking styles detection algorithm.

iv. To design and develop intelligent vision based fall detection system.

v. To integrate MMU’s intelligent vision based fall detection system, UTAR’s walking

styles detection WBAN and WBAN from Japan into a telehealth monitoring system at

MCMC-MMU Digital Home Lab.

vi. To promote regional research and development work in the field of medical ICT

application.

2.3. Project Team

The project team members of this project are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Project Team Members

Name Role Designation Contact

Dr. Chang Yoong Choon

Project leader

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University Malaysia

[email protected] Office: +60 (3) – 8312 5469

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Henry Lee Seldon

Project member

Associate Professor, Faculty of Information Science & Technology, Multimedia University Malaysia

[email protected]

Dr. Ryu Miura Medical ICT Expert

Director, Dependable Wireless Laboratory, NICT Japan

[email protected]

Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu

Medical ICT Expert

Expert of Project Promotion Office, NICT Japan

[email protected]

Prof. Dr. Ryoichi Komiya

Project member

Professor, Faculty of Engineering & Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Malaysia

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Assoc. Prof. Dr. Goi Bok Min

Project member

Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering & Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Malaysia

[email protected]

Dr. Balamuralithara Balakrishnan

Project member

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering & Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Malaysia

[email protected]

Mr. Chuah Yea Dat Project member

Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering & Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Malaysia

[email protected]

Ms. Malini Ramalingam

Project member

Deputy Director, Digital Initiatives Department, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission

[email protected]

3. Summary of the Financial Statement

A total budget of 39,020.50 USD was approved by APT for this project and a total of

20,456.57 USD has been spent

4. Summary of the Project Activities

This section describes the summary of project activities carried out between May 2011 to

March 2012 for a duration of 11 months. There are three types of project activities, namely

general project activities, exchange activities and prototype development.

DescriptionOriginal Budget

(USD)

Actual Spent Amount

(USD)

Travel Expenses 10,928.00 9,149.31

Daily allowance and accommodation fee 5,837.50 3,558.80

Correspondence expenses and shipping fee 835.00 0.00

Equipment purchase expenses 21,120.00 7,748.46

Miscellaneous 300.00 0.00

Total amount 39,020.50 20,456.57


4.1. General Project Activities

In order to strengthen the collaboration between MMU and UTAR in this project, an

agreement was signed in August 2011. The main purpose of the agreement is to outline the

responsibilities and deliverables of UTAR and MMU respectively. After the agreement was

signed, 6,646.80 USD (equivalent to RM 19,840.70) was transferred from MMU to UTAR for

equipment purchase.

4.2. Exchange Activities

4.2.1. Visit by NICT Japan Medical ICT Experts to Malaysia

Introduction & Background Dr. Ryu Miura, director of Dependable Wireless Laboratory (formerly Medical ICT Group)

and Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu, expert of Project Promotion Office at National Institute of

Information and Communications Technology (NICT) Japan visited Malaysia on 11-14 July

2011. The main objective of their visit was knowledge exchange with researchers and

students in Malaysia on the latest Medical ICT technologies.

Itinerary Summary The visit itinerary of Dr. Ryu Miura and Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu is the following:

Date Agenda

Day 1 (11 July 2011)

Arrival in Kuala Lumpur, check in to Dorsett Regency Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Day 2 (12 July 2011)

Discussion and seminar at Multimedia University

Day 3 (13 July 2011)

Discussion and seminar at University Tunku Abdul Rahman

Day 4 (14 July 2011)

Discussion at Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Departure from KLIA

Day 5 (15 July 2011)

Arrival in Tokyo


Detailed Visit Agenda

Multimedia University (MMU) (12 July 2011)

Participants:

NICT: Dr. Ryu Miura, Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu

Malaysia side: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lee Seldon, Dr. Chang Yoong Choon, undergraduate engineering students

Seminar to MMU staff and students

Dr. Ryu Miura presented a seminar entitled “R&D on Body Area Network at NICT” to MMU staff and students

Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu presented a seminar entitled “Relief Operations in Areas Affected by Great East Japan Earthquake - Setting up of Internet links & remote relief activities” to MMU staff and students.

Photo 1: Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu delivers his seminar at MMU.


Photo 2: Dr. Ryu Miura delivers his seminar at MMU.

Discussion and knowledge sharing with MobileHealth2U

Dr. Ryu Miura and Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu had a discussion and knowledge sharing session with MobileHealth2U, a home healthcare monitoring solution company in Malaysia.

Photo 3: Discussion and knowledge sharing between NICT experts, Malaysia researchers and

MobileHealth2u.

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) (13 July 2011)

Participants:


Malaysia side: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Goi Bok Min, Mr. Chuah Yea Dat, Dr. Balamuralithara Balakrishnan, undergraduate & postgraduate engineering students


Seminar to UTAR staff and students

Dr. Ryu Miura presented a seminar entitled “R&D on Body Area Network at NICT” to UTAR staff and students

Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu presented a seminar entitled “Relief Operations in Areas Affected by Great East Japan Earthquake - Setting up of Internet links & remote relief activities” to UTAR staff and students.

Photo 4: Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu delivers his seminar at UTAR.


Photo 5: Dr. Ryu Miura delivers his seminar at UTAR.

Photo 6: UTAR students attend the seminar


Photo 7: Discussion between NICT experts and UTAR staff

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (14 July 2011)

Participants:


Malaysia side: Ms Malini Ramalingam, Dr. Chang Yoong Choon

Knowledge sharing and presentation by NICT experts

Dr. Ryu Miura and Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu presented and shared their Medical ICT experience with Ms Malini Ramalingam of MCMC

Photo 8: Presentation and knowledge sharing by NICT experts at MCMC


Visit Outcome The seminars and knowledge sharing by Dr. Ryu Miura and Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu during

their stay in Malaysia on 11-14 July 2011 has greatly benefited Malaysia as engineering

students (undergraduate & postgraduate) and researchers were exposed to the latest state

of the art Medical ICT technologies in Japan.

4.2.2. Study visit to Japan

Introduction & Background

One of the main objectives APT J2 project is the development of Advanced ICT researchers

by exchange of researchers through international collaborative research projects. In order

to achieve this objective, four researchers from Malaysia, namely Dr. Chang Yoong Choon,

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Henry Lee Seldon, Dr. Balamuralithara Balakrishnan and Mr. CHuah Yea Dat

embarked on a study trip to Japan. The main objective of the study trip was to learn the

latest advanced ICT technologies in Japan, with a focus on Medical ICT. Prof. Ryoichi Komiya

and Mr. H. Kurematsu joined the study visit in Japan.

Participants from Malaysia

1) Dr. Chang Yoon Choon (Multimedia University, Malaysia) 2) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Henry Lee Seldan (Multimedia University, Malaysia) 3) Dr. Balamuralithara Balakrishnan (University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia) 4) Mr. Chuah Yeat Dat (University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia)

Participants Joining from Japan

1) Prof. Dr. Ryoichi Komiya (University Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia) 2) Mr. Hachihei Kurematsu (NICT Japan)

Itinerary Summary

Date Activity Hotel

Day 1 (9 Oct 2011)

Departure from Malaysia

SQ0119: KUL – SIN (8:30pm)

SQ0638: SIN- TOKYO (11:55pm)

Day 2 (10 Oct

2011)

Arrival in Tokyo, 8am Toyoko Inn Tokyo

Shinagawa-eki Takanawa-

guchi


Day 3 (11 Oct

2011)

Visit to National Institute of Information

and Communications Technology (NICT),

Rokosuka, meeting with Mr. H.

Kurematsu & Dr. Ryu Miura

Toyoko Inn Tokyo


guchi

Day 4 (12 Oct

2011)

Travel from Tokyo to Nagoya on bullet

train (Shinkanshen)

Visit to Nagoya Institute of Technology,

meeting with Prof. Jianqing Wang

Toyoko Inn Nagoya

Nagoya-eki Shin-kansen-

guchi

Day 5 (13 Oct

2011)

Visit to Chubu University, meeting with

Prof. Kawashima

Travel from Nagoya to Tokyo on bullet

train (Shinkanshen)

Toyoko Inn Tokyo


guchi

Day 6 (14 Oct

2011)

Visit to Secom IS Lab, meeting with Dr.

Hasegawa

N/A

Day 7 (15 Oct

2011)

Departure from Tokyo

SQ0633: TOKYO – SIN (12:30am)

SQ5324: SIN – KUL (8:35am)

Detailed Visit Agenda

NICT (11 October 2011)

Participants:

NICT: Dr. Ryu Miura, Dr. Li Huan-Bang, Dr. Sum Chin Sean, Mr. H. Kurematsu

Malaysia side: as above

1) Explanation and demo of latest NICT medical ICT research prototypes

Body area network and vital sign monitoring using 2.4 GHz wireless transmission

Body area network and vital sign monitoring using Ultra Wideband (UWB)

Application of Ultra Wideband (UWB) to the blind people


Photo 1: Mr. H. Kurematsu explains the latest NICT medical ICT research prototype

2) Exhibition Hall of DoCoMo R&D center visit (NICT kindly booked it for us)

Future lifestyle to be realized through advanced mobilephone technology

Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile communications technology

Latest commercial handsets

Concept terminals

Video presentation of innovations to be achieved by wireless technology

3) Meeting & Discussion with NICT

Challenge to 2011 APT RHD program: Due to the lack of NICT resource this year, our intended research proposal "Hybrid Model using BAN Awareness of Visually Impaired Persons" has been postponed to next year.

Actions to be taken in Malaysia side: Form research team to start preliminary study between universities collaboration. Professor Komiya conducted kick off meeting with Dr. Tan Ching Seong (MMU) and Goi Bok Ming (UTAR) on 18 October, 2011. At the meeting, participants understood the research team set-up among universities with enthusiastic members and then, apply funding to promote the study.

In future, knowledge sharing with NICT will be conducted.


Photo 2: Discussion between NICT and Malaysia side

Nagoya Institute of Technology (12 October 2011)

Participants:

Nagoya Institute of Technology: Prof. Dr. Wang Jianqing, Dr. Daisuke Anzai, postgraduate students

NICT: Mr. H. Kurematsu


1) Presentation by Malaysia Participants

Prof. Dr. Ryoichi Komiya presented the project overview

Dr. Chang Yoong Choon presented the visual based fall detection research project

Mr. Chua Yea Dat presented the fall prediction research project

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lee Seldon presented the mobile health record research project


Photo 3: Presented by Mr. Chuah Yea Dat on his fall reduction research project at Nagoya

Institute of Technology

2) Presentation and Demo by Prof. Wang Jiangqing on Human Body Communications

Photo 4: Demo of human body communications by Prof. Wang’s graduate student


3) Potential Research Collaboration between University Tunku Abdul Rahman and Nagoya Institute of Technology on Human Body Communication

- Nagoya Institute of Technology

* Continuation of human skin communication performance measurement for different

gender, different age group and different season to set up the standardized channel model.

- University Tunku Abdul Rahman

* Multiplexing method for plural vital signs collected in the body area network

* Error correction method for human skin communication.

- Contact persons for the future work

* NIT: Dr. Anzai

* UTAR: Dr. Bala

Chubu University (13 October 2011)

Participants:

Chubu University: Prof. Dr. Makoto Kawashima

NICT: Mr. H. Kurematsu


1) Presentation and demo by Prof. Kawashima on his research

ECG sensor and 3-axes accelerometer on body area network

Optical rotary link joint

Moving human trajectory tracking


Photo 5: Prof. Kawashima explains his ECG sensor research prototype




Mr. Chua Yea Dat presented the fall prediction research project


3) Meeting output - Continuation of information exchange between UTAR and Chubu University in terms of

"elderly people's fall reduction".

- MMU and UTAR would like to do a test of ECG recorders designed by Chubu University

when they become available

SECOM Intelligent Systems Laboratory (14 October 2011)

Participants:

SECOM: Mr. Tsuneo Komatsuzaki, Mr. Yasuyuki Tauchi, Dr. Seiya Hasegawa


1) Video demonstration of SECOM business and R&D A video demonstration of SECON business and R&D was presented.





Mr. Chua Yea Dat presented the fall reduction research project


Photo 6: Presentation by Mr. Chuah Yea Dat at SECOM

3) Meeting output (a) Continuation of study on "Elderly people's fall reduction system" (b) Proposed study items * UTAR side: Abnormal walking styles data collection and clarification of relationship

between the abnormal walking styles and falls.

* SECOM side: Field trial of UTAR's system for the SECOM medical service subscribers

* MMU side: The NAVI system presented by Dr Hasegawa of SECOM appears to be a very

interesting approach to behavioral modification for healthy lifestyles. A first step will be to

encourage all involved to develop documentation in English

(c) Contact persons for the future work

* UTAR : Mr. Chuah

* SECOM : Dr. Hasegawa

* MMU: Dr. Lee Seldon


4.3. Prototype Development

An essential part of this project is development of an integrated telehealth system, which is

divided into two modular units, namely development of walking style detection algorithm

by UTAR and development of visual based fall detection by MMU.

4.3.1. Development of Walking Style Detection Algorithm (UTAR)

A prototype (Figure 1) that able to detect the walking acceleration rate and falls of the

elderly has been developed in this project. This prototype consists of one tri-axial

accelerometer with noise filter, microcontroller integrate with analogue to digital signal

converter, printed circuit board with electronics components (Figure 2) , wireless modules

and buzzer. The tri-axial accelerometer is used to measure the walking acceleration of the

elderly. The analogue output signal from tri-axial accelerometer will be converted into

digital signal by analogue to digital signal converter in the microcontroller. The digital signal

data from the tri-axial accelerometer is transmitted to personal computer through the

wireless modules. Falls detection algorithm was programme into the microprocessor. When

falls is detected, the buzzer will sound in order to alert the people nearby or next door

neighbour.

Figure 1: Walking style detection system prototype

Figure 2: Printed circuit board with electronics components


The prototype was tested by real subject (Figure 3). There are three types of falling testing

(left falling, right falling and back falling) have been carried out. The results of falling were

then been verified and the threshold was set by using an equation according to Dai et al.

(2009) paper.

222

zyxT aaaa (1.0)

Where

aT = total acceleration of body in digital code

ax = x-axis acceleration in digital code

ay = y-axis acceleration in digital code

az = z-axis acceleration in digital code

Figure 3: Prototype testing


Besides the prototype, a software interface has also been developed in this project. Figure 4

shown the graphic user interface (GUI) of the software when microcontroller is

communicating with PC.

Figure 4: GUI displaying the graph of 3 axes acceleration data of the walking style detection system prototype

The software enable the user to run the software on its own after performing the setup and

the falls detection system will monitoring the motion of the user in real time basis. If falls is

detected, a beep will be sounded and a message will be prompted to alert the caregiver

(Figure 5).

The buzzer on the hardware will also sound continuously to alarm the family members in

the house when the user falls down. Buzzer will sound until the reset button is pressed to

disable the alarm.

Figure 5: GUI displaying the message prompted when fall is detected.

Tool used to collect data for gait analysis

The data collection system is Body Area Network (BAN) that consists of with three axes accelerometer, wireless transceiver and personal computer will be used to store each subject’s walking style data into relevant files according to the above test conditions. The three axes accelerometer will be used to measure the linear acceleration of the subjects


along each X, Y and Z axis in units of gravity (g) where 1 g is equal to 9.8 m/s2. The wireless transceiver provides real-time wireless data transmission to a computer to which the USB receiver was attached. Besides real time data transmission, the BAN system can also store data in onboard memory. The data stored in the system can be downloaded at a later time by connecting the system to a computer USB port. The data was saved in binary file format and then exported to ASCII file before opening the data file in third party software applications such as Excel. The data acquisition software of the BAN system transferred real-time data to the computer and plot three linear acceleration graphs in time domain. The software can also perform Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and produce a power analysis plot by providing corresponding step frequency information of the subjects.

Experiments

Five sets of experiments have been designed to collect the three axes acceleration of the subject on 10 meter flat floor (Figure 6). Five subjects with the edge between 20 to 24 years old and height between 164cm to 180 cm wears the Body Area Network (BAN) with three axes accelerometer at their waist as shown in Figure 7. All five subjects are healthy and no gait disturbance. All experiments have repeated twice to verify the reliability of data collection system. Videos were also been captured in all experiments to study the walking motion of each walking style. The walking styles data obtained from the experiments will be analyzed and study to confirm whether it can be used as abnormal walking style definition.

Figure 6: Walking straight with normal speed on 10 meter flat floor

Figure 7: Subject wears the Body Area Network (BAN) with three axes accelerometer at

their waist

Data analysis

The acceleration and power spectrum data for every subject has been stored (Figure 8). Total of 50 sets of data has been collected in the experiments. The 3 axes acceleration data


collected by the software was exported to Excel file for analysis. Average maximum acceleration values in Excel file were compared in normal and abnormal walking experiments by plotting a 3 dimensional bar chart as shown in figure 9.

Figure 8: 3 axes acceleration and power spectrum of the subject shown by the software

Figure 9: Average highest 3 axes acceleration values from various experiments.

High Z acceleration values were observed (Figure 9) in walking with normal speed and then jump and follow by walking with normal speed experiment. High X acceleration values were observed in walking zigzag experiment. High Y acceleration values were observed in this experiment indicated that Y was the forward and backward acceleration value of the subjects. Consistent positive values were observed in this experiment when the subjects moved forward and negative values were observed when the subjects moved backward.

High Z acceleration values in walking with normal speed and then jump and follow by walking with normal speed experiment indicated that Z was the vertical acceleration value of the subjects and the data collected shown that jumping upward was the positive Z acceleration. The system consistently indicated similar values when the subjects jump at similar level of high.

High X acceleration values in walking zigzag experiment indicated that X was right and left movement acceleration value of the subjects. Consistent positive values were observed in this experiment when the subjects moved to the right and consistent negative values were observed when the subjects moved to the left.

High Y acceleration values in this experiment indicated that Y was the forward and backward acceleration value of the subjects. Consistent positive values were observed in this experiment when the subjects moved forward and negative values were observed when the subjects moved backward.


The acceleration values of all axes for normal walking experiment were lower than other abnormal walking experiments indicated that the change of walking styles have increased the speed of the subjects. Videos captured during the experiments shown that the increased of speed was due to the trunk move faster during the changed of walking style that has resulted in body in balance. The increased of acceleration of the trunk was necessary to bring the subjects in steady state during gait transition.

Highest X, Y and Z acceleration values were observed in walking with normal speed and sudden jump and then walking with normal speed experiment. The highest acceleration value has indicated that sudden jump during normal walking has caused body in balance and required highest body motion to bring the body back to steady state.

High variation in step frequency observed from experiments indicates the subjects have different step frequency in different walking and it cannot be used as common value to define normal walking style. Finding

Based on the results obtained, the definition of abnormal walking by using 3 axes accelerometer is practical. The highest acceleration value that was captured in walking with normal speed and sudden jump and then walking with normal speed experiment could possible be used to differentiate between normal and abnormal walking style algorithm definition. More data will be collected by increasing the sample size to further confirm the practicality of defined the abnormal walking by using 3 axes accelerometer

4.3.2. Development of Visual Based Fall Detection (MMU)

A visual based fall detection system using normal off the shelf Wi-Fi IP surveillance camera

has also been developed. The visual based fall detection system works by detecting a

sudden change in the bounding box’s aspect ratio. In comparison with the existing

commercial wearable fall detection product using accelerometer, the visual based fall

detection system has the advantage that there is no need to wear the fall detection device

all the time. Some computer screenshots of the visual based fall detection system are

shown in Figures 10-12 below.

Figure 10: Detection of standing person in the visual based fall detection system prototype


Figure 11: Detection of person just fell down in the visual based fall detection system

prototype

Figure 12: Fall detected in the visual based fall detection system prototype

4.3.3. Development of Integrated Telehealth System (MMU & UTAR)

An integrated telehealth system has been developed and tested at Multimedia University’s

Digital Home Lab. The integrated telehealth system consists of the following components:

a) Walking style detection algorithm from UTAR

b) Visual based fall detection from MMU

c) Body area network from Japan

d) Wireless mesh router

Photos 7-10 show the testing of the integrated telehealth system at Multimedia University’s

Digital Home Lab.


Photo 7: Testing of Integrated Telehealth System Prototype using Walking Style Detection

from UTAR and BAN from Japan at Multimedia University’s Digital Home Lab

Photo 8: Testing of Integrated Telehealth System Prototype using Walking Style Detection

from UTAR at Multimedia University’s Digital Home Lab


Photo 9: Wireless Mesh Router used for the Integrated Telehealth System at Multimedia

University’s Digital Home Lab

Photo 10: Testing of Visual Based Fall Detection, part of the Integrated Telehealth System, at

Multimedia University’s Digital Home Lab


5. Project Deliverables/Outputs

With reference to the original proposal submitted to APT, the following is the status of the

project deliverables:

No Deliverable Status

1 Completion of analyzing the walking styles based on the

3D acceleration and step frequency data (UTAR)

Completed

2 Completion of developing abnormal walking styles

detection algorithm (UTAR)

Completed

3 Completion of evaluating the accuracy and reliability of

the abnormal walking styles detection algorithm (UTAR)

Completed

4 Completion of intelligent vision based

fall detection system (MMU)

Completed

5 Completion of integration of UTAR’s fall reduction

algorithm, NICT’s WBAN and MMU’s intelligent vision

based fall detection system

Completed

6 Completion of tele-monitored information transmission

tests using in-house WiFi mesh network router

Completed

With reference to the original proposal, the following is the status of the project output:

No Output Status

1 Prototype of walking style detection wireless body area

network

Completed

2 Prototype of vision based fall detection system Completed

3 Prototype of integrated telehealth system Completed

In addition, the collaborative research project has resulted in the following journal and

conference publications:

1. Yea Dat chuah, Ryoichi Komiya, Bok Min Goi, “A proposal for fall reduction system”, The

third CUTSE International Conference, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, 8-9 November 2011.

2. Yea Dat Chuah, Ryoichi Komiya, Bok Min Goi, “Abnormal walking styles definition”, The

First International Conference on Engineering and Technology Innovation 2011, Kenting,

Taiwan, 11-15 November 2011.

3. Yea Dat Chuah, Ryoichi Komiya, Bok-Min Goi. Abnormal Walking Styles Definition. Applied

Mechanics and Materials, Volume 145, pp. 374-378, 2012 (ISSN: 1660-9336).


6. Impacts of the Project

The completion of this international collaboration project has brought the following impacts

on the international community:

a) Medical ICT human resource development in Malaysia

b) Adoption of telehealth system for the elderly’s fall reduction in Malaysia

c) Reduction of healthcare expenses in Malaysia through the use of telehealth system

d) Acceleration of broadband network penetration in Malaysia through the extensive

introduction of telehealth system

7. Project Sustainability

With the completion of this project, especially from the view point of medical ICT human

resource development, this research project will contribute to have sustainability to get

more funding from the universities, the Malaysian Government and private companies to

promote commercial introduction of the system.

8. Lessons Learned

There is a need to study in detail whether we need both visual and sensor based fall

reduction and detection system. It is advantageous to use sensor based fall reduction

system in terms of sensor portability, however, when the elderly people forget or do not like

attach sensors on the body, no remote monitoring can be conducted. Therefore more

extensive field trial and user acceptance test would be required from sensor engineering

design and user’s psychological reactions to the system.

9. Future Plan

With the completion of this project and testing of the system prototype at Multimedia

University’s Digital Home Lab, it is planned that a city or national level pilot test be carried

out in order to test users’ acceptance of the system.

In addition, with the rapid advancement of Medical ICT, wireless body area network and

wireless body sensor technology using Ultra WideBand (UWB) will be explored in the future.

In addition, it is proposed that NICT Japan, MMU, UTAR and MCMC to embark on a new

project, namely Electronics Dogs for Visually Impaired People using Vision Sensors. If

possible, funding will be sought from APT to fund this new collaborative project.


10. Conclusion

A human resource development in Malaysia in the area of Medical ICT through exchange of

researchers between Japan and Malaysia has been successfully carried out. In addition, an

integrated telehealth system using broadband networks has also been developed jointly by

MMU and UTAR using technology from Japan through tests of the prototype at Multimedia

University’s Digital Home Lab. The project team would like to take this opportunity to

express our utmost appreciation and gratitude to APT for providing financial funding for this

collaborative project and it is hoped that APT to continue supporting the collaboration

research projects between NICT Japan, MMU, UTAR and MCMC.

elderly people’s telemonitoring system using broadband ... · elderly age 65 or older ranges from...

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