What's the fastest growing threat to Americans' health? Cancer? Heart attacks? Diabetes? The answer is actually none of these; it's Alzheimer's disease. Every 67 seconds, someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. As the number of Alzheimer's patients triples by the year 2050, caring for them, as well as the rest of the aging population, will become an overwhelming societal challenge.
Koja je prijetnja američkom zdravlju u najbržem porastu? Rak? Srčani udar? Dijabetes? Odgovor glasi - nijedno od ponuđenih. Radi se o Alzheimerovoj bolesti. Svakih 67 sekundi nekome u SAD-u dijagnosticiran je Alzheimer. Kako se broj oboljelih do 2050. bude utrostručavao, briga za njih, kao i za ostatak populacije, postat će ogroman društveni izazov.
My family has experienced firsthand the struggles of caring for an Alzheimer's patient. Growing up in a family with three generations, I've always been very close to my grandfather. When I was four years old, my grandfather and I were walking in a park in Japan when he suddenly got lost. It was one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced in my life, and it was also the first instance that informed us that my grandfather had Alzheimer's disease. Over the past 12 years, his condition got worse and worse, and his wandering in particular caused my family a lot of stress. My aunt, his primary caregiver, really struggled to stay awake at night to keep an eye on him, and even then often failed to catch him leaving the bed. I became really concerned about my aunt's well-being as well as my grandfather's safety. I searched extensively for a solution that could help my family's problems, but couldn't find one.
Moja je obitelj iz prve ruke iskusila poteškoće u brizi za oboljele od Alzheimera. Odrastajući u obitelji s tri generacije, uvijek sam bio iznimno blizak s djedom. Kada sam imao četiri godine, djed i ja šetali smo parkom u Japanu kada se on iznenada izgubio. Bio je to jedan od najstrašnijih trenutaka u mom životu, i bio je to i prvi slučaj koji nam je rekao da moj djed boluje od Alzheimera. Tijekom zadnjih 12 godina stanje mu se sve više i više pogoršavalo, a njegovo je lutanje mojoj obitelji uzrokovalo jako puno stresa. Moja teta, djedova primarna skrbnica, mučila se ostajući budna kako bi pazila na njega i opet često ne bi ni primijetila kako izlazi iz kreveta. Jako sam se počeo brinuti i za tetinu dobrobit i za djedovu sigurnost. Predano sam tražio rješenje koje bi moglo pomoći problemima moje obitelji, ali nisam ga mogao naći.
Then, one night about two years ago, I was looking after my grandfather and I saw him stepping out of the bed. The moment his foot landed on the floor, I thought, why don't I put a pressure sensor on the heel of his foot? Once he stepped onto the floor and out of the bed, the pressure sensor would detect an increase in pressure caused by body weight and then wirelessly send an audible alert to the caregiver's smartphone. That way, my aunt could sleep much better at night without having to worry about my grandfather's wandering.
Onda jedne noći prije neke dvije godine pazio sam na djeda i vidio sam ga kako izlazi iz kreveta. U trenutku kad mu je stopalo dotaklo pod, pomislio sam: mogao bih mu na petu postaviti senzor za pritisak. Kad bi iskoračio iz kreveta i stao na pod, senzor za pritisak očitao bi povećanje u pritisku uzrokovano tjelesnom težinom i zatim bežično poslao zvučno upozorenje na smartphone njegove skrbnice. Tako bi moja teta mogla puno bolje spavati ne morajući se brinuti o djedovom lutanju.
So now I'd like to perform a demonstration of this sock. Could I please have my sock model on the stage? Great. So once the patient steps onto the floor -- (Ringing) -- an alert is sent to the caregiver's smartphone.
Sad bih volio izvesti demonstraciju ove čarape. Može li mi se moj model za čarape pridružiti na pozornici? Odlično. Kad pacijent stane na pod -- (Zvuk zvona) -- skrbnica dobiva obavijest na svoj smartphone.
Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala vam. (Pljesak)
Thank you, sock model.
Hvala tebi, modelu za čarape.
So this is a drawing of my preliminary design.
Ovo je crtež mog prvotnog dizajna.
My desire to create a sensor-based technology perhaps stemmed from my lifelong love for sensors and technology. When I was six years old, an elderly family friend fell down in the bathroom and suffered severe injuries. I became concerned about my own grandparents and decided to invent a smart bathroom system. Motion sensors would be installed inside the tiles of bathroom floors to detect the falls of elderly patients whenever they fell down in the bathroom. Since I was only six years old at the time and I hadn't graduated from kindergarten yet, I didn't have the necessary resources and tools to translate my idea into reality, but nonetheless, my research experience really implanted in me a firm desire to use sensors to help the elderly people. I really believe that sensors can improve the quality of life of the elderly.
Moja želja za stvaranjem tehnologije bazirane na senzoru vjerojatno je potekla od moje cjeloživotne ljubavi prema senzorima i tehnologiji Kad sam imao šest godina., stariji obiteljski prijatelj pao je u kupaonici i zadobio teške ozljede. Zabrinuo sam se za vlastite bake i djedove i odlučio izumiti pametan kupaonski sustav. Senzori pokreta bili bi postavljeni unutar pločica kupaonskih podova kako bi detektirali padove starijih pacijenata kad god bi pali u kupaonici. Budući da sam tada imao samo šest godina i još nisam završio ni vrtić, nisam imao potrebne resurse i alate kako bih svoju ideju proveo u djelo. Kako bilo, ovo istraživačko iskustvo u meni je uistinu usadilo snažnu želju za korištenjem senzora za pomoć starijima. Uistinu vjerujem da im senzori mogu poboljšati kvalitetu života.
When I laid out my plan, I realized that I faced three main challenges: first, creating a sensor; second, designing a circuit; and third, coding a smartphone app. This made me realize that my project was actually much harder to realize than I initially had thought it to be.
Kad sam izrađivao plan, shvatio sam da postoje tri osnovne poteškoće: prva, stvaranje senzora; druga, dizajniranje strujnog kruga; i treća, kodiranje aplikacije. Tada sam shvatio da je moj projekt teže realizirati nego što sam u početku mislio.
First, I had to create a wearable sensor that was thin and flexible enough to be worn comfortably on the bottom of the patient's foot. After extensive research and testing of different materials like rubber, which I realized was too thick to be worn snugly on the bottom of the foot, I decided to print a film sensor with electrically conductive pressure-sensitive ink particles. Once pressure is applied, the connectivity between the particles increases. Therefore, I could design a circuit that would measure pressure by measuring electrical resistance.
Prvo sam morao napraviti tanak nosivi senzor, a opet dovoljno fleksibilan da bi bio udoban za nošenje na donjem dijelu stopala. Nakon iscrpnog istraživanja i testiranja raznih materijala poput gume, za koju sam shvatio da je predebela da bi se nosila pripijena za stopalo, odlučio sam isprintati filmski senzor s električki provodnim česticama tinte osjetljiv na pritisak. Kad dođe do pritiska, povezanost među česticama se povećava. Stoga sam mogao dizajnirati strujni krug koji bi mjerio pritisak mjereći električni otpor.
Next, I had to design a wearable wireless circuit, but wireless signal transmission consumes lots of power and requires heavy, bulky batteries. Thankfully, I was able to find out about the Bluetooth low energy technology, which consumes very little power and can be driven by a coin-sized battery. This prevented the system from dying in the middle of the night.
Zatim sam trebao dizajnirati bežični strujni krug, ali prijenos bežičnog signala troši puno energije i zahtijeva teške i velike baterije. Srećom, otkrio sam niskoenergetsku bluetooth tehnologiju koja troši jako malo energije i može je pokrenuti baterija veličine novčića. Zahvaljujući ovome, sustav ne bi krepao usred noći.
Lastly, I had to code a smartphone app that would essentially transform the care-giver's smartphone into a remote monitor. For this, I had to expand upon my knowledge of coding with Java and XCode and I also had to learn about how to code for Bluetooth low energy devices by watching YouTube tutorials and reading various textbooks.
Posljednje, morao sam kodirati smartphone aplikaciju koja je njegovateljici omogućavala daljinski nadzor. Za to sam trebao proširiti svoje znanje o kodiranju u Javi i XCodeu i naučiti kako kodirati niskoenergetske bluetooth uređaje gledajući tutoriale na YouTubeu i čitajući razne udžbenike.
Integrating these components, I was able to successfully create two prototypes, one in which the sensor is embedded inside a sock, and another that's a re-attachable sensor assembly that can be adhered anywhere that makes contact with the bottom of the patient's foot. I've tested the device on my grandfather for about a year now, and it's had a 100 percent success rate in detecting the over 900 known cases of his wandering. Last summer, I was able to beta test my device at several residential care facilities in California, and I'm currently incorporating the feedback to further improve the device into a marketable product. Testing the device on a number of patients made me realize that I needed to invent solutions for people who didn't want to wear socks to sleep at night.
Integrirajući ove komponente, mogao sam uspješno stvoriti dva prototipa, u jednom je senzor bio ugrađen u čarapu, a u drugom je senzor mogao biti pričvršćen bilo gdje gdje bi imao kontakta s donjim dijelom pacijentova stopala. Testirao sam napravu na svom djedu gotovo godinu dana, i ima stopu uspješnosti od 100 posto u detektiranju preko 900 nama poznatih slučajeva njegova lutanja. Prošlog ljeta bio sam u mogućnosti beta-testirati svoj uređaj u nekolicini mjesnih ustanova za njegu u Kaliforniji Trenutno pokušavam inkorporirati povratnu informaciju kako bih napravu unaprijedio za tržište. Testirajući je na brojnim pacijentima, shvatio sam da trebam osmisliti rješenja za ljude koji ne žele nositi čarape u krevetu.
So sensor data, collected on a vast number of patients, can be useful for improving patient care and also leading to a cure for the disease, possibly. For example, I'm currently examining correlations between the frequency of a patient's nightly wandering and his or her daily activities and diet.
Podatci senzora, prikupljeni na ogromnom broju pacijenata mogu biti korisni u unapređenju skrbi o pacijentima a možda i u pronalasku lijeka ovoj bolesti. Primjerice, trenutno proučavam povezanost između učestalosti noćnog lutanja pacijenata i njihovih dnevnih aktivnosti i prehrane.
One thing I'll never forget is when my device first caught my grandfather's wandering out of bed at night. At that moment, I was really struck by the power of technology to change lives for the better. People living happily and healthfully -- that's the world that I imagine.
Nikad neću zaboraviti kako je naprava prvi put uhvatila mog djeda kad se uputio na noćno lutanje. Tad me je uistinu zadivila moć tehnologije da nam promijeni živote nabolje. Ljudi koji vode sretne i zdrave živote -- takav ja svijet zamišljam.
Thank you very much.
Puno vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)