Further studies on smart telehealth sensors underway

The implementation of ‘smart’ houses, which recognise when someone is ill or has forgotten to take medication has taken a step closer to being realised, thanks to a fresh injection of funding to a team experts at the University of Portsmouth.

Dr Jim Briggs is one of several experts in the Faculty of Technology at the University of Portsmouth who have won £128,000 of the £4m given to their university under the government's Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). Briggs has 12 years’ experience in telemedicine, and together with his team is studying ways to capture more information about the minutiae of how we live in order to help build the brains behind the new, advanced sensors in 'smart' homes.

Research into the technology behind the sensors claim they’ll be able to 'read' the health and well-being of those who live in a house and upload the information to a secure website for a relative or carer living remotely to see.

The team at Portsmouth is working with PassiveSystems, a Newbury-based company specialising in smart home technology, in a bid to take some of the ideas to market. The aim is to test sensors in a `living laboratory' to gather information about what is normal in different environments. The testing and analytics to make a workable, useful 'smart' home have to be rigorous to ensure the sensors can recognise the difference between someone falling over and someone having a nap, for example.

Further applications for the sensors would include running burglar alarms and turn heating and lighting off in rooms not being used.

“People want to stay in their own homes for as long as possible and installing sensors is about helping them do that while also reassuring their families that Mum or Dad is okay,” explained Dr Briggs.

“The technologies behind this have been around for many years but we are now integrating them to make sensors much more sophisticated. In theory, sensors could be installed in every room in the house. They could even be linked to the fridge so you can check Mum or Dad is eating properly, on pill dispensing equipment so you can check the right medicine is being taken and on the temperature of the bath water being run.”
 
Fraser Harding, development director at PassivSystems said the realisation of smart homes would have a “significant role to play” in the future. “They can help people live independently and comfortably in their homes for longer, provide reassurance for relatives and support to social services.”

Harding added, “But if such sensors are to be used in the monitoring of a loved-one then it is critical they function effectively, which is why we are working with Dr Briggs to ensure the technology we develop is based on best practice research and insight.”

Advances in 'smart' homes have been praised by the head of strategic development for the communities, health and care directorate at Southampton City Council, Christopher Hawker. He works from the Wessex Health Innovation and Education Cluster, a consortium of health and care agencies which want to progress local telehealth and telecare services.

Mr Hawker said, “This is the kind of development which will mean people can live independently for longer in the future -- something most people want to be able to do for as long as possible. It will be a valuable contribution to a range of developments we want to pioneer on local services in the future.'