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.
Šta je najveća pretnja po zdravlje Amerikanaca? Rak? Srčani udar? Dijabetes? Odgovor je - ništa od navedenog. To je Alchajmerova bolest. Na svakih 67 sekundi, nekome u SAD se dijagnostikuje Alchajmerova bolest. Kako će se broj pacijenata sa Alchajmerom utrostručiti do kraja 2050, briga o njima, kao i o najstarijim članovima populacije, postaće 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 porodica je iskusila iz prve ruke, poteškoće u nezi pacijenta sa Alchajmerom. Odrastajući u porodici sa tri generacije, oduvek sam bio veoma blizak sa svojim dedom. Kada sam imao četiri godine, moj deda i ja smo šetali parkom u Japanu i on se iznenada izgubio. To je bio jedan od najstrašnijih trenutaka u mom životu, ali i prvi slučaj koji nas je uputio na to da moj deda ima Alchajmerovu bolest. U poslednjih 12 godina, njegovo stanje se sve više pogoršavalo, i njegova lutanja su donela puno stresa mojoj porodici. Moja tetka, kao prvi staratelj, borila se da ostane budna tokom noći da bi pazila na njega, ali i tada često nije uspevala da ga primeti kako odlazi. Postao sam veoma zabrinut za zdravlje svoje tetke, kao i za bezbednost svoga dede. Svuda sam tražio rešenje koje bi rešilo probleme moje porodice, ali nisam ništa našao.
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, pre oko dve godine, pazio sam na svog dedu i video ga kako ustaje iz kreveta. U trenutku dok je spuštao nogu na pod, pomislio sam, zašto ne bih stavio senzor pritiska na njegovu petu? Istog trenutka po ustajanju iz kreveta senzor bi detektovao povećanje pritiska uzrokovano težinom tela i potom bežično poslao zvučni signal do telefona staratelja. Tako bi moja tetka mogla mnogo bolje da spava noću bez brige da će moj deka odlutati.
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.
Sada bih voleo da izvršim demonstraciju ove čarape. Da li model za čarapu može da dođe na pozornicu? Sjajno. Kada pacijent zgazi na pod - (Zvuk zvona) - šalje se alarm na telefon staratelja.
Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala. (Aplauz)
Thank you, sock model.
Hvala, modelu za čarapu.
So this is a drawing of my preliminary design.
Ovo je skica mog preliminarnog 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 da stvaram tehnologiju na bazi senzora ima korene u mojoj večitoj ljubavi prema senzorima i tehnologiji. Kada sam imao šest godina, stariji porodični prijatelj je pao u kupatilu i pretrpeo ozbiljne povrede. Zabrinuo sam se za svoju baku i deku, i odlučio da izmislim pametan sistem u kupatilu. Senzor pokreta bi bio instaliran unutar pločica na podu kupatila da bi detektovao pad starijih pacijenata, u svakom trenutku. Pošto sam tada imao samo šest godina, i još uvek sam bio u obdaništu, nisam imao potrebna sredstva i alate da bih moju ideju preveo u stvarnost, ali pored toga, moje istraživačko iskustvo usadilo je čvrstu želju za korišćenje senzora za pomoć starijim ljudima. Zaista verujem da senzori mogu poboljšati kvalitet života starijih ljudi.
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.
Izloživši svoj plan, shvatio sam da se suočavam sa tri glavna izazova: prvo, pravljenje senzora, drugo, kreiranje strujnog kola, treće, kodiranje aplikacije. Shvatio sam da je moj projekat mnogo teže realizovati, nego što sam mislio u početku.
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, morao sam da napravim nosiv senzor, dovoljno tanak i fleksibilan da bi se komotno nosio na peti pacijenta. Posle obimnog istraživanja i testiranja raznih materijala, poput gume, koja je suviše debela da bi mogla sa lakoćom da se nosi na stopalu, odlučio sam da štampam filmski senzor sa česticama mastila, električno provodljivim i osetljivim na pritisak. Kada se nanese pritisak, veza između čestica se povećava. Tako, mogao sam da kreiram kolo koje bi merilo pritisak mereći 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.
Sledeće, morao sam da napravim nosivo bežično strujno kolo ali bežično emitovanje signala troši dosta energije i zahteva teške, glomazne baterije. Srećom, saznao sam o niskoenergetskoj tehnologiji Blututa, koja troši malo energije i može raditi sa baterijom veličine novčića. To sprečava sistem da prestane da radi 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.
Na kraju, morao sam da kodiram aplikaciju koja bi u osnovi transformisala telefon staratelja u udaljen monitor. Za ovo sam morao da proširim znanje kodiranja sa Javom i XCode-om i morao sam da naučim kodiranje Blutut niskoenergetskih uređaja, gledajući tutorijale na Jutjubu i čitajući razne knjige.
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.
Integrisanjem ovih komponenata, napravio sam dva uspešna prototipa, jedan u kojem je senzor ugrađen unutar čarape, i drugi koji je skupina senzora koji mogu biti pridodati bilo gde postoji kontakt sa donjim delom stopala pacijenta. Testiram uređaj na svom dedi već godinu dana, i uređaj ima stopu uspešnosti od 100% u detektovanju preko 900 slučajeva njegovih lutanja. Prošlog leta sam vršio beta testiranje svog uređaja u nekoliko domova za brigu u Kaliforniji i trenutno obrađujem podatke za poboljšanje uređaja u tržišni proizvod. Testiranjem uređaja na dosta pacijenata shvatio sam da treba da napravim opciju za ljude koji nisu želeli da nose čarape tokom spavanja.
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.
Tako da podaci sa senzora sa velikog broja pacijenata mogu biti od koristi u poboljšanju nege pacijenata i možda dovesti do pronalaska leka. Na primer, trenutno istražujem vezu između učestalosti noćnih lutanja pacijenata i njihovih dnevnih aktivnosti ili ishrane.
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.
Nikada neću zaboraviti trenutak kada je moj uređaj prvi put registrovao noćna lutanja mog dede. Tog trenutka sam bio zaista očaran mogućnostima tehnologije da nam promeni život nabolje. Ljudi koji žive srećno i zdravo - to je svet kakav ja zamišljam.
Thank you very much.
Hvala vam puno.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)