Portable Wireless Device for Automated Agitation Detection - E-Healthcare Systems and Wireless Communications - page 255

and continuously collects personal data, privacy
is a primary concern. Security becomes more of
a concern when these portable devices are active;
such as in the case of administering medication
when certain conditions are detected. With such
devices, there is a concern of malicious behavior
and liability to the manufacturer.
We believe that these challenges will define
some of the future research directions. Research
areas will include:

accuracy and repeatability of the device prototype
in measuring physiological parameters and the
accuracy of the algorithm in detecting agitation.
We believe that such a technology, if commercial-
ized, would play a significant role in the care for
Alzheimer's patients.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research was funded by the American Uni-
versity of Beirut University Research Board, Dar
Al- Handassah (Shair & Partners) Research Fund,
and the Rathman (Kadifa) Fund. We would like to
thank Dr. Cheryl Riley-Doucet and Dr. Debatosh
Debnath from Oakland University for providing
the data used in this research.

• Miniaturization of physiological sensors to

facilitate mounting and interfacing. We ex-
pect research in MEMs and NEMs to target
the development of noninvasive miniature
sensors.

• Development of sensors capable of short

range secure wireless communication.
This would enable devices to measure dif-
ferent parameters potentially at different
point on the subject's body without the
need for wires.

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). DSM-
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dsm.html

• Development of devices capable of har-

vesting energy from the subject's body
and/or motion. This would enable pro-
longed operation with no concern for pro-
cessing demands.

Aronszajn, N. (1950). Introduction to the theory
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• Development of intelligent devices ca-

pable of predicting specific conditions and
potentially autonomously carrying out in-
tervention. For example, detect the onset
of agitation and carry out calming actions.

Badlinger, J.-L., et al. (2004). Tele-surveillance
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CONCLUSION

This chapter presented a discussion of the ad-
vances in portable medical devices in general.
The focus was on portable agitation detection,
where previous research was detailed. The design
and implementation of a portable wireless device
for agitation detection was presented. The SVM
based method of agitation detection was discussed.
Experimental results demonstrated the very high

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doi:10.1023/A:1009715923555