Description
R&D on new technology in care services for elderly people relates to the ageing of the European population and to increased needs for complex care services. The objective of the project is to support more secure life of aging people at their own homes and to provide support for more comfortable life in nursing homes for elderly with advanced problems. The project focuses on implementing ambient technology in care, involving a “package” of monitoring sensors and intelligent computing system providing information about certain bodily functions in non-invasive way. Beneficiary of the project results are mainly elderly people with diagnosed healthcare problems to be monitored. Norwegian partner provides insight into healthcare sector addressing issues with aging people. Strong focus on care research in Norway will enhance research-based knowledge development in Poland. The cooperation between partners can greatly boost development in health-care. Polish partner will develop new technologies suitable for tackling new problems in health-care.
Summary of project results
The life expectancy has been growing in Europe for many years, while the healthy-life expectancy has been diminishing recently. Consequently, the share of elderly and functionally impaired persons, who need healthcare services, is growing rapidly. The project is meeting the urgent demand for various technical solutions which could support and/or replace the healthcare personnel, in particular - the demand for sensor systems which could be applied for non-invasive and nonintrusive monitoring of the movements of elderly and disabled persons in their living environment. The project goal was to conduct basic research on the applicability of a new technology in care services for such persons within the fields of preventive care and diagnosis, viz. the applicability of impulse-radar sensors for non-invasive monitoring of the movements of those persons. As a result, a laboratory model of the radar-based system of assumed and verified functionality has been developed. It consists of a set of radar modules and intelligent computing means that provide information about the human body movements and selected bodily functions. Two sets of modules with the application software have been installed and tested in WUT and BUC laboratories. The final validation of the hardware and software results of the project has been performed in the specialised healthcare laboratories of BUC. The main axis of techno-scientific cooperation has been WUT-Elnovel while the BUC team has contributed with healthcare expertise at all the stages of the project development, including the preliminary identification of the research objectives, and the final testing and evaluation of the developed monitoring technology.
Summary of bilateral results
A research team from the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) has collaborated within the RadCare project with the team of the Centrę for Care Research at the Faculty of Health and Social Science BUC and with the Elnovel company. The main axis of techno-scientific cooperation has been WUTElnovel. The BUC team has contributed with healthcare expertise at all the stages of the project development, including the preliminary identification of the research objectives, and the finał testing and evaluation of the developed monitoring technology. The functional complementarity of Polish and Norwegian partners has been essential for the successful completion of the RadCare project. The project has significantly contributed to the deyelopment of the research cooperation between Poland and Norway in the field of healthcare and nursing. In particular, it has contributed to the transfer of Norwegian experience related to care technology. The project has resulted in a cross-disciplinary sharing of knowledge between engineers and health experts participating in the study. RadCare has been an interdisciplinary project integrating research efforts of Polish experts in radar technology with the efforts of Norwegian experts in healthcare and medicine. This has been an organisational framework making both teams learn a lot. The Polish team has learned the language of healthcare and medicine, has realised that prevention of falls is more important that their detection, has recognised the need for the use of complementary technologies of monitoring to make it sufficiently reliable for medical and healthcare purposes. The Norwegian team has learned the language of technology. In the process of harmonisation of different methodological approaches of both teams, it has understood its limitations and has recognized the need for reformulation of the project goals and application-specific reguirements, as well as the need for the use of complementary technologies of monitoring to make it sufficiently reliable for medical and healthcare purposes. The three-year RocfCore-related collaboration of the WUT, BUC and Elnovel teams has been an excellent opportunity not onIy for acquiring the substance-related research experience, but aIso for mastering the language of interdisciplinary communication and the mode of harmonious cooperation.