AAL - IS-ACTIVE: Inertial Sensing Systems for Advanced Chronic Condition Monitoring and Risk Prevention

The objective of IS-ACTIVE is to devise a person-centric healthcare solution for patients with chronic conditions - especially elderly people - based on the recent advances in wireless inertial sensing systems. The project emphasizes the role of the home as care environment, by providing real-time support to patients in order to monitor, self-manage and improve their physical condition according to their specific situation. IS-ACTIVE aims at producing tangible results in the form of fully functional prot otypes with a relatively short estimated time to market (1-2 years). The project addresses all the development phases of such a prototype wireless sensing platform for patients with chronic conditions, from hardware platforms and software packages to algo rithms and user interfacing. The IS-ACTIVE consortium aims to design, build and test systems that can eventually be bought and used by the individuals, instead of being the property of healthcare institutions. IS-ACTIVE will attempt to shift medical devi ce technology into the mainstream consumer electronics market. This implies that there is a strong focus towards ease of use, integration and pricing. IS-ACTIVE results are to be validated through field trials involving patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD became the fourth cause of death worldwide due to an increase in smoking rates and demographic changes in many countries. Patients need to manage their chronic condition through extensive physical therapy. Howeve r, the physical therapy needs to be adapted to the situation of the patient and according to his/her progress.