Tom Zentek

Home-based system for physical activity monitoring in patients with multiple sclerosis (Pilot study)

BackgroundLimitations in physical activity are considered as a key problem in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Contemporary methods to assess the level of physical activity in PwMS are regular clinical observation. However, these methods either rely on high recall and accurate reporting from the patients (e.g. self-report questionnaires), or they are conducted during a particular clinical assessment with predefined activities. Therefore, the main aim of this pilot study was to develop an objective method to gather information about the real type and intensity of daily activities performed by PwMS in every-day living situations using an accelerometer. Furthermore, the accelerometer-derived measures are investigated regarding their potential for discriminating between different MS groups.MethodsEleven PwMS that were able to walk independently (EDSS ≤ 5) were divided into two groups: mild disability (EDSS 1–2.5; n = 6) and moderate disability (EDSS 3 –5; n = 5). Participants made use of an activity monitor device attached to their waist during their normal daily activities over 4 measurements. Activity parameters were assessed and compared for the time of each participant’s first measurement and follow-up measurement. Furthermore, differences between both subgroups, and the correlation of activity parameters with the clinical neurological variable (EDSS) were investigated.ResultsParticipants showed significant decline in step count (p = 0.008), maximum walking speed (p = 0.02) and physical activity intensity (p = 0.03) throughout the study period. Compared to the mild subgroup, moderate affected participant accumulated less number of steps (G1: 9214.33 ± 2439.11, G2: 5018.13 ± 2416.96; p < 0.005) and were slower (G1: 1.48 ± 0.19, G2: 1.12 ± 0.44; p = 0.03). Additionally, the EDSS correlated negatively with mean walking speed (r = - 0.71, p = 0.01) and steps count (r = - 0.54, p = 0.08).ConclusionsIn this study, we used a portable activity monitoring sensor to gather information about everyday physical activity in PwMS at home. We showed that objective measurements using simple 3D accelerometers can track daily physical activity fluctuation. Furthermore, they track disability changes better than clinical measures. Thus, they can help to develop activity based treatments for PwMS.

universAAL: Provisioning Platform for AAL Services

universAAL is a European research project that aims at creating an open platform and standards which will make it technically feasible and economically viable to develop Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions. It defined hardware and software infrastructure for smart environments called AAL Spaces, which enable context sharing and reasoning about activities carried out by the assisted person. AAL Services developed with the universAAL platform may be a combination of hardware, software and human resources. Tools for the development, publishing and provisioning of such services have been defined to support the whole chain of stakeholders involved in the AAL domain. The paper focuses on the provisioning of AAL Services by describing the main components involved in the service life cycle.

Which AAL Middleware Matches My Requirements? An Analysis of Current Middleware Systems and a Framework for Decision-Support

This work analyses and summarizes current middleware systems which are potential candidates to be used in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) environments. In total 43 middleware systems from industry, open source communities and research institutions were analysed. In parallel, out from 65 AAL requirements eight mandatory ones were identified. According to these requirements ten promising middleware systems were chosen, and each of them was analysed in detail according to all 65 requirements. The results give developers an overview about existing middleware systems and to choose the best matching middleware for own AAL purposes.

Methods and Tools for Ontology-Based Configuration Processes of AAL Environments

In the last few years, technologies with a semantic middleware were established under the AAL platforms. These technologies simplify the reaction to various and rapidly changing needs of assisted elderly. Building on this established semantic basis, the set-up and configuration of individual use cases can be simplified. Up to now it is hardly possible to set up an AAL environment without technical knowledge. This paper presents how the process of set-up and configuration of AAL environments based on ontologies could proceed. The support starts with the developers of the use cases, continues with the integration in the middleware and ends up in the maintenance during operation. At the end, different configuration support tools based on the semantic middleware universAAL will be described.

Technik für ein langes Leben

Megatrend Ambient Assisted Living - Im Jahr 2035 wird in Deutschland jeder dritte Mensch älter sein als 60 Jahre. Die Nachfrage nach Dienstleistungen und unterstützenden Systemen wird steigen. Technische Assistenzsysteme für Pflegende, Pflegebedürftige und deren Angehörige sollen das Leben im Alter sicherer und bequemer machen.

Living Labs als Forschungsinstrument für Ambient Assisted Living Technologien

Zusammenfassung Seit über vier Jahren setzt das FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik die Living Lab Methode zur Forschung an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Technologien ein. Ca. 15 wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter aus unterschiedlichen Projekten und Disziplinen arbeiten hier zusammen, um innovative Assistenzsysteme für ältere bzw. körperlich und kognitiv eingeschränkte Menschen zu entwickeln. Das Living Lab erwies als sehr hilfreich, um zum einen techni-sche Möglichkeiten aufzuzeigen und zum anderen Benut-zerakzeptanzanalysen und Usability Tests von AAL Tech-nologien durchzuführen. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt den theoretischen Rahmen der Living Lab Methodik und die Erfahrungen mit der Umsetzung des Living Lab zur For-schung an AAL Technologien. Abstract For over four years, the FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik has been using the method of living labs for its research into Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). About 15 scientists from different projects and disciplines work together to develop innovative assistance systems for elderly or physically and cognitively disabled people. The living lab proved to be very advantageous to reveal technical opportunities as well as to perform user accep-tance analyses and usability tests of AAL technologies. This article describes the theoretical framework of the living lab methodology and the experiences with the implementa-tion of the living lab for research into AAL.