A unique radar sensor system to monitor movement and vital signs for elderly people in care homes

Project Information

RayVS1

Grant agreement ID: 855664

DOI

10.3030/855664

Project closed

EC signature date 28 January 2019

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 31 May 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

RAYTELLIGENCE AB
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RayVS1 (A unique radar sensor system to monitor movement and vital signs for elderly people in care homes)

Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2019-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The large increase in elderly population (more than doubled in last three decades) and prevalence of chronic diseases leads to shortage in caregivers, thus leading to higher pressure on hospital services, nursing/care homes and increased care costs. This creates a large unmet demand for cost and resource efficient health monitoring of elderly people. The current solutions for monitoring the health status of solitary elderly at homes/care homes are represented by sensor-based monitoring systems, such as cameras and wearable devices. These technologies present some limitations such as being intrusive, need of physical interaction, multiple devices, are expensive and not sufficiently accurate. This necessitates cost effective and non-intrusive health monitoring alternatives that will allow our ageing parent, spouse, friend or loved one to live at home or in a care home with greater independence, better security, dignity and a far greater sense of reassurance.
Raytelligence offers RayVS1, an IoT and radar based, hands free non-invasive monitoring system for vital signs and movements of individuals and to provide real-time alerts to caregivers about their condition. It can detect position, movement (fall detection), and heart and respiration rate of individuals without the need to physically interact with the user.
The overall objectives of the project include, defining a minimum viable product, establish a feasible product development plan and industrialisation strategy, plan demonstration and validation trials and analyse risks and opportunities.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Raytelligence undertook a full analysis of both the technical and business potential of the RayVS1 concluding that it would be highly valuable for the healthcare industry specifically for care-homes and e-health providers. Raytelligence reviewed the development of RayVS1 and analysed the user requirements and determined the necessary engineering and optimisation required. Raytelligence defined the testing to be performed to ensure effective technical validation for CE Marking, and a commercial validation to determine the benefits for care-homes, the elderly individuals, the care-givers and health care systems. Raytelligence also utilised the feasibility study to review and establish the value chain including all suppliers; to analyse the target markets and define the commercialisation strategy; and to elaborate financial projections and required investments. It is concluded that in order to reach commercialisation, Raytelligence should aim to upgrade the RayVS1 sensor and the software by developing a newer frontend, methods for extracting more parameters and AI tools, to scale-up production by installing an in-house assembly line, validate the technology in a large elderly care home and finally apply for CE (Medical) certification.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The expected outcome of the project is to successfully upgrade the RayVS1 hardware and associated software, integrate with AI and demonstrate the technical functionality and accuracy in monitoring the health of the elderly. Raytelligence will perform a commercial validation with the help of care-homes and e-health providers. The results will be used to apply for the CE Mark (Medical) certification and enable commercialisation in Europe. The RayVS1 will improve the quality of life of elderly in care homes and its AI driven forecasting and advanced analytics capabilities allow the provision of proactive care by healthcare providers. The RayVS1 development will reduce costs and improve efficiencies of healthcare systems and better allocation of human resources. The big societal impact will also drive government supporting the largescale implementation of technology solutions similar as RayVS1. Directly RayVS1 commercialisation will create 58 high skilled jobs in Europe.

Light bulb prototype of RayVS1

Ceiling hanged prototype of RayVS1