Smartphone based continuous monitoring system for home-bound elders and patients

As the elder population is increasing every year, spending on elder healthcare is also increasing. Older adult rate is increasing rapidly and is expected to double by 2030 to 20% increase in world population. A huge part of the healthcare expenditure is expected to be spent on older individuals particularly those with Alzheimer´s disease, Parkinson diseases, stroke patients in their rehabilitation phase which require continuous monitoring and medical care. This research work makes use of smart phones which have become ubiquitous and the capability of mobile networks having increased multifold in short duration, to address these issues. A constant and reliable assistive technology is essential while taking care of home-bound patients and elders. The proposed system has sensors to monitor the heart rate, body temperature, ECG, respiration rate, tilt and fall. Blood pressure can also be measured in cuff-less manner. The sensors are attached to the body of the elderly or home-bound patient in a wearable fashion. The data from the sensors can be sent to any Smartphone with Bluetooth support. In critical situations the caretaker will be given a notification via smartphone. Cuff-less BP monitoring will be a boon in case of continuous monitoring of health parameters.