Remote Health Monitoring Device for the Elderly: Development of an Affordable and Easy-to-use Breathing Monitoring Device

摘要

In the USA, the oldest of the baby-boomer generation just started to reach retirement age a few years ago. In the years to come, a much larger percentage of the population will be dependent on others for their daily care. There are not many low-cost monitoring devices available on the market to help caregivers keep dependent elderly people comfortable and healthy in a home setting without a monthly service charge. The device presented in this paper addresses this challenge to provide caregivers an emergency alert system for the elderly based on monitoring of their breathing activities and room temperature measurements. The device also allows the dependents to make on demand request for assistance. The remote communication is enabled through the cellular telephone services; so there is no special or additional subscription services needed. This is essential to make the device more affordable for the elderly.