Combined Health Monitoring and Emergency Management through Android Based Mobile Device for Elderly People

Abstract

We have developed a combined Android based mobile data acquisition (DAQ) and emergency management solution, which can collect information remotely from patient and send the information towards to the medical data and dispatcher centre for further processing. The mobile device is capable to collect information from various sensors via Bluetooth and USB connection, and further more able to capture and forward manually initiated alarm signals in case of an emergency situation. Beside the alarm signal the system collects and sends information about the patient’s location, and it also enables two ways audio communication between the central dispatcher and the patient automatically. The developed software solution is suitable for different skilled users. Its user interface is highly configurable to support elderly persons (high contrast, huge characters, simple UI, etc.), and also provides advanced mode for the “power” users. The developed system becomes part of our testing program, which is carried out in our Hungarian Living Lab infrastructure. The combination of a mobile DAQ device and mobile emergency alarm device within a single software solution enables care givers to provide better and more effective services in elderly patient monitoring.