Abstract
Sensor systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) make it possible to continuously monitor people, gathering information without any extra effort from them. Thus, the IoT can be very helpful in the context of early disease detection, which can improve peoples’ quality of life by applying the right treatment and measures at an early stage. This paper presents a new use of IoT sensor systems—we present a novel three-door smart cupboard that can measure the memory of a user, aiming at detecting potential memory losses. The smart cupboard has three sensors connected to a Raspberry Pi, whose aim is to detect which doors are opened. Inside of the Raspberry Pi, a Python script detects the openings of the doors, and classifies the events between attempts of finding something without success and the events of actually finding it, in order to measure the user’s memory concerning the objects’ locations (among the three compartments of the smart cupboard). The smart cupboard was assessed with 23 different users in a controlled environment. This smart cupboard was powered by an external battery. The memory assessments of the smart cupboard were compared with a validated test of memory assessment about face–name associations and a self-reported test about self-perceived memory. We found a significant correlation between the smart cupboard results and both memory measurement methods. Thus, we conclude that the proposed novel smart cupboard successfully measured memory.
Highlights
Dementia is the progressive loss of cognitive functions due to brain damage or disorder.Among dementia types, one of the most well-known and widespread diseases is Alzheimer’s disease, and the number of people who will suffer from this disease is estimated to reach 131.5 million by2050 [1]
In order to double-check that the sensors system of the smart cupboard (SC) was working properly, the experimenter took notes about the fails and successes of participants during the experimentation phase, and the notes were contrasted against the system log
The article proposed a new mechanism of measuring memory with the SC as a novel Internet of Things (IoT) sensors system
Summary
Dementia is the progressive loss of cognitive functions due to brain damage or disorder.Among dementia types, one of the most well-known and widespread diseases is Alzheimer’s disease, and the number of people who will suffer from this disease is estimated to reach 131.5 million by2050 [1]. Dementia is the progressive loss of cognitive functions due to brain damage or disorder. One of the most well-known and widespread diseases is Alzheimer’s disease, and the number of people who will suffer from this disease is estimated to reach 131.5 million by. 131.5 million people could put themselves at risk if they start developing these symptoms without the proper cautionary measures and palliative treatments. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but there are palliative treatments. Some of these are medicines, but none of them has been proven to stop the progression of this disease [3]. Other examples are psychosocial interventions, and these involve stimulation-oriented treatments with art, music, Sensors 2019, 19, 2552; doi:10.3390/s19112552 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
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