MULTIFUNCTIONAL PERSONAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM

• US 20080117060A1
• Filed: 11/17/2006
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: WEISENBERG, JENNY MARIE, CUDDIHY, PAUL EDWARD
• Granted Patent: US 7,586,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/04 responsive to non-activity, e.g. of elderly persons G08B21/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A system, for facilitating independent living of one or more individuals who has a health status and is located in a predetermined living area, that is adapted to communicate with one or more caregivers, that generally comprises: a first subsystem that monitors the activity levels of an individual and determines whether the activity level is indicative of a decline in said individual'"'"'s health status; a second subsystem that can be selectively activated by the individual to alert caregivers that assistance is needed; a third subsystem that automatically alerts caregivers that assistance is needed based at least in part on determination of the first subsystem; and a fourth subsystem that monitors whether the individual is exhibiting wandering activity.

Claims

1. A system, for facilitating independent living of one or more individuals who has a health status and is located in a predetermined living area, that is adapted to communicate with one or more caregivers, comprising:

a first subsystem that monitors activity levels of said individual and determines whether said activity is indicative of a decline in said individual'"'"'s health status;

a second subsystem that is selectively activated by said individual to alert one or more of said caregivers that assistance is needed;

a third subsystem that automatically alerts one or more of said caregivers that assistance is needed by said individual based at least in part on changes in activity levels as determined by said first subsystem; and

a fourth subsystem that monitors whether an individual is exhibiting wandering activity.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of each of said first subsystem, said second subsystem, said third subsystem and said fourth subsystem are housed within a single device adapted to be worn by said individual.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said device further monitors one or more physiological indicators of said individual.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said device comprises a means for remotely communicating with one or more of said caregivers.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein said means for remotely communicating is a wireless radio transmitter.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein said first subsystem comprises one or more sensors located within said predetermined living area and wherein said device is capable of engaging one or more of said sensors.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said device comprises a data storage module for storing data corresponding to any engagement between one or more of said sensors and said device.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein said device comprises a data storage module for storing data corresponding to said activities of said individual.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein said second subsystem comprises an activation means, in said device, that said individual may selectively activate to alert one or more of said caregivers that said individual needs assistance.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said first subsystem, said second subsystem, said third subsystem and said fourth subsystem are housed within a single actigraphy device adapted to be worn by said individual.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said first subsystem determines whether said activity level is indicative of a decline in said individual'"'"'s health status in view of one or more predetermined health conditions associated with said individual.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said first subsystem monitors one or more of said activities levels of said individual over an extended period of time greater than one week, and stores data corresponding to said activity levels over said entire extended period of time, and automatically determines whether said stored data corresponding to said extended period of time is indicative of a decline in said individual'"'"'s health status.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising,

a base station, located proximate said living area, comprising a data storage module for storing data corresponding to said individual'"'"'s activity levels;

wherein at least a portion of each of said first subsystem, said second subsystem, said third subsystem and said fourth subsystem are housed within a single device adapted to be worn by said individual; and

wherein said device comprises a transmitter for transmitting said data corresponding to said individual'"'"'s activities to said base station.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of sensors located in said living area that are adapted to detect one or more of said activities of said individual.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said device comprises a receiver for receiving signals from said sensors that are indicative of one or more of said activities.

16. A system, for facilitating independent living of one or more individuals who has a health status and is located in a predetermined living area, that is adapted to communicate with one or more caregivers, comprising:

an device, comprising,

a first subsystem that monitors one or more activity levels of said individual over an extended period of time and determines whether said activity level is indicative of a decline in said individual'"'"'s health status;

a second subsystem that is selectively activated by said individual to alert one or more of said caregivers that assistance is needed;

a third subsystem that automatically alerts one or more of said caregivers that assistance is needed by said individual based at least in part on changes in activity levels as determined by of said first subsystem; and

a fourth subsystem that monitors whether an individual is exhibiting wandering activity;

a means for transmitting information corresponding to said activity levels from said actigraphy device to a location remote from said living area.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said means for transmitting comprises a base station in said living area, comprising a storage module for storing said information and a transmitter for transmitting said information from said living area to said remote location.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said means for transmitting further comprises a docking unit at said base station for docking said actigraphy device to said base station for direct transmission of activity data from said device to said base station.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein said means for transmitting further comprising a radio transmitter in said actigraphy device adapted to transmit activity data to said base station.

20. A system, for facilitating independent living of one or more individuals who has a health status and is located in a living area, that is adapted to communicate with one or more caregivers, comprising:

a monitoring device, comprising,

a first subsystem that monitors one or more of activity levels of said individual over an extended period of time; and

a second subsystem that is selectively activated by said individual to alert one or more of said caregivers that assistance is needed;

a base station comprising,

a third subsystem that monitors whether said individual is exhibiting wandering activity away from said individual'"'"'s living area;

a fourth subsystem that automatically alerts one or more of said caregivers that assistance is needed by said individual based at least in part on changes in activity levels as determined by said first subsystem or said third subsystem;

a means for receiving data from said monitoring device; and

a base station transmitter for transmitting data from said base station to a location remote from said living area.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said actigraphy device comprises a device transmitter for transmitting a signal, corresponding to said second subsystem alert, directly to one or more of said caregivers.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein said means for receiving is wireless.

23. The system of claim 20, further comprising one or more sensors in said living area for sensing one or more of said activities of said individual, wherein said sensors comprise a signal transmitter for transmitting a signal to said actigraphy device when said sensor is activated.

24. The system of claim 20, further comprising one or more sensors in said living area for sensing one or more of said activities of said individual, wherein said sensors comprise a signal transmitter for transmitting a signal to said base station when said sensor is activated.