\ Alta Tecnologia \ A new platform and wearable device providing assistance to frail individuals at home

A new home-assistance support platform that detects, measures and transmits the data required to remotely monitor elderly people with geriatric syndromes at risk of falls, and individuals suffering from neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s, transient ischemic attacks (TIA) or Stroke, integrated in a wearable device prototype. This is the result achieved by the CASSIA (Cloud Assisted per la Salute e la SIcurezzA – Cloud Assisted for Health and Safety) project, co-financed with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Operational Programme within the European Regional Development Fund, and developed by a team comprising the Trieste start-up Feature Jam Srl (lead partner), Televita SpA, the Bioengineering Laboratory of the Department of Engineering and Architecture at the University of Trieste, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano Isontina (ASUGI) and Area Science Park.

The platform is capable of detecting vital signs, such as blood pressure, body temperature, oxygenation and movement data, provided by home passage sensors, or from the innovative wearable device developed by Feature Jam. Thanks to machine learning, the platform is able to monitor a patient’s level of activity over time, detect falls and anomalies in movement patterns, thus limiting false fall findings. Using an integrated Decision Support System (DDS), the project associates sensors to specific artificial intelligence algorithms, promoting safety at home through the ability to identify anomalies and activate a remote assistance service.

More than 14 million people in Italy live with a chronic disease, of which 8.4 million are over 65. Furthermore, in a survey conducted in Italy on a sample of over 65s, 8% of respondents stated that they had fallen in the last 30 days and 63% of falls happened at home. The results of the CASSIA project provide an effective and integrated response within the care system, providing support for the elderly and their carers.

The solution developed as part of this project enables prompt identification and adequate management of changes to vital signs in patients monitored remotely, and of falls and anomalies in daily movements, and any consequent emergencies, facilitating targeted preventive interventions such as a change in therapy or lifestyle. Two studies conducted during the COVID-19 health emergency showed there was a significant improvement in the quality of life of monitored patients, as well as a noticeable reduction in their anxiety and depression.

“Thanks to CASSIA, we have a clinically valid technology platform that will form the basis of services built around the concept of wearable home devices,” underlines Andrea Petronio, CEO of Feature Jam Srl. These devices will help limit the issue of falls in the elderly, enabling risks to be assessed in advance and allowing the adoption of preventive solutions. The system also makes automatic identification of stroke and TIA events in real time possible, enabling activation of timely interventions to reduce the most serious outcomes”.

“For the CASSIA project,” explains Michela Flaborea, President of Televita SpA, “we first worked to create the IT platform, which includes the gateway for receiving the signals transmitted by the various devices, and to develop the home motion sensor system. When the system is fully operational, Televita will act as a Service Centre, as the facility responsible for monitoring the various parameters detected remotely (vital signs, motion parameters and falls), enabling fragile subjects to use the technologies and facilitating communication between users and healthcare system professionals. The Service Centre has therefore both a role of responsibility and of mediation, as an easy, reliable point of reference that is always available to meet the various needs of users assisted with smart healthcare.”