13 April 2007

New device helps dementia patients

A new device which helps people with dementia to wash their hands has been developed by the computing experts at the University of Dundee.

The device, which has been developed in conjunction with the University of Toronto, uses live video of the person washing their hands. If they forget which stage they are at it will prompt them with an audio or visual cue.

Dr Jesse Hoey says, "Hand washing is a very important problem in the development of technology for people with dementia. Often they want to stay in their own home as long as possible, but they can only do that with help."

Of course, the bathroom is the one place where they really want some privacy, so we want to develop techniques to help them there. Toileting is a primary concern, but there are a lot of ethical issues when it comes to developing a device that watches a person on the toilet. Hand washing is a safe and simple alternative for research, that nevertheless presents many of the same challenges from a technological point of view.

Dr Hoey recently moved to the University of Dundee from Toronto. He now plans to refine the device, so that it can identify when a persons' dementia is getting worse and react accordingly. Another avenue of research is using the device for other tasks in the home, perhaps tooth brushing, or cooking.

Dr Hoey presented a paper on his research at the International Conference on Computer Vision Systems where it won the IAPR (International Association for Pattern Recognition) Best Paper Award. The device is now being tested clinically at a long term care facility in Toronto.

http://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/staff/jessehoey/coach/index.html

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