Abstract
Rapid growth of the aged population has caused an immense increase in the demand for healthcare services. Generally, the elderly are more prone to health problems compared to other age groups. With effective monitoring and alarm systems, the adverse effects of unpredictable events such as sudden illnesses, falls, and so on can be ameliorated to some extent. Recently, advances in wearable and sensor technologies have improved the prospects of these service systems for assisting elderly people. In this article, we review state-of-the-art wearable technologies that can be used for elderly care. These technologies are categorized into three types: indoor positioning, activity recognition and real time vital sign monitoring. Positioning is the process of accurate localization and is particularly important for elderly people so that they can be found in a timely manner. Activity recognition not only helps ensure that sudden events (e.g., falls) will raise alarms but also functions as a feasible way to guide people’s activities so that they avoid dangerous behaviors. Since most elderly people suffer from age-related problems, some vital signs that can be monitored comfortably and continuously via existing techniques are also summarized. Finally, we discussed a series of considerations and future trends with regard to the construction of “smart clothing” system.
Highlights
Aging populations are bringing significant challenges to societies everywhere [1]
In this review, compared with the current concept of smart clothing/clothes that emphasizes on vital sign monitoring and physical activity recognition, we add the function of positioning to extend this concept so that the systems or platforms we proposed can meet the specially demands of elderly care
This article provided an overview of the state-of-the-art technologies for designing smart clothing platforms, focusing mainly on accurate indoor positioning, human activity recognition (HAR), and vital sign monitoring
Summary
Aging populations are bringing significant challenges to societies everywhere [1]. Worldwide increases in elderly populations are demanding more healthcare services, including those of hospitals and nursing homes. For elderly people unable to take care of themselves, it is critical for a nurse or family member to pay extra attention to them during their daily care. The costs of elderly care in hospitals, nursing homes or by employing professional nurses are very high. These approaches may bring financial pressure for the families with aged people, even worse the elderly with chronic conditions. A prospective solution that can reduce these costs is to care in private homes with the Sensors 2017, 17, 341; doi:10.3390/s17020341 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
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