Radar holds the potential to change the way we look after elderly people, with new radar-based sleep monitors offering a way to rethink the way elderly people are monitored both in elder care facilities and in their own homes. Traditional monitoring techniques have significant drawbacks when it comes to elder care: for example, cameras have significant privacy, security and compliance concerns, and wearables have practical issues both in elder care facilities and the home.
By contrast, radar can help physicians monitor how elderly people are sleeping through the night, offering important insights into their overall health, while also integrating with other technology, so that, for example, lights and televisions can turn off when an elderly patient goes to sleep. Perhaps most importantly, the discreet, privacy-preserving technology holds the promise that elderly people can live independently for longer.
Improving sleep
Traditionally, sleep quality has been gauged using polysomnography tests in medical settings, but this technique has significant issues when it comes to elder care. The comprehensive overnight tests measure everything from muscle activity and heart rate through to eye movements and oxygen levels, but require large numbers of sensors attached to the body and have to be carried out in a sleep clinic rather than a patient’s home or an elder care facility.
The reason radar is so promising as a sensor for elder care is that it can offer accuracy comparable to a traditional PSG test, but without its disadvantages, offering physicians and care staff vital insights into the health of older people.
Spotting issues
Radar is particularly powerful in elder care, because it is non-intrusive and offers a way to monitor patients respectfully, allowing medical staff to identify serious health issues before they pose a danger to patients. For example, radar systems can detect sleep apnea or irregular breathing during the night, offering medical staff an early alert to problems that can rapidly become serious. The sensors can also alert physicians about falls and wandering during the night, offering a key advantage in elder care facilities, so that staff can (for example) reach a wandering patient before they fall.
Today’s 60GHz radar can detect tiny movements such as breathing, and validate that against hundreds of scientific sleep measurements, using an AI algorithm to distinguish between states such as waking and rapid eye movement. This offers not only a powerful way to monitor sleep non-intrusively, but also an insight into health, which can be used to monitor conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
‘Sleep aware’ technology
Radar sensors are pocket-sized, so they are easily installed near a patient’s bed, making them eminently practical in elder care settings and homes. Because the chipsets are so small and discreet, they can also easily be integrated into devices in and around the home, making other technology ‘sleep aware’, without intruding onto people’s privacy or daily routine. This makes radar sensors particularly powerful for elder care, particularly when paired with smart home technology.
Radar systems can integrate simply with other technology such as televisions, bedside devices and even care robots. So, for example, when someone falls asleep in an elder care setting, radar sensors can turn the lights off and turn the television off so they can sleep more comfortably. Such systems can even integrate with air conditioners and eating systems, adjusting airflow and temperature based on a patient’s sleep phases. Combined with the possibility of alerting medical staff rapidly if there are serious issues, radar means that elderly people have the possibility of living independent, happy lives for longer.
More independence
It’s clear that contactless radar sensing offers myriad advantages in elder care settings. Sleep monitoring becomes ambient and invisible, without privacy or surveillance issues, and elderly users are not burdened with having to change their habits or wear intrusive equipment. Because radar can be used for real-time monitoring, patients can receive the same sort of care they would in a hospital or nursing home in the safety of their own home, helping to allow people to live more independently.
With radar technology small, discreet and simple enough to set up and operate at home with supervision from healthcare providers, radar-powered sleep sensors hold out the real promise of improving the lives of millions of elderly people around the world. Sleep monitoring is just the beginning: radar can help older people to live safer, more dignified lives, and maintain their independence safely for longer.
About Dr. Jae-Eun Lee
Dr. Jae-Eun Lee is the CEO at bitsensing, an innovative company specializing in advanced radar solutions. Prior to founding bitsensing, Jae-Eun was a Senior Research Engineer at Mando Corporation. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University and a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from POSTECH, underlining his deep expertise in the field.
