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Artificial intelligence brings smarter healthcare monitoring to homes
There is no shortage of health monitoring systems and solutions in the market or in development today. In the face of a projected $35 billion market opportunity, new products to address the aging population and healthcare worker shortage are being introduced at a rapid pace. Yet the uptake of these solutions is far lower than you might expect, given the size of the need. Many of these solutions rely on the installation of monitoring devices in the home, which may take the independence out of “independent living” to a lot of seniors. Others are only reactive, like fall detection monitors or wearables that can call for medical help.
We've embedded intelligence into our products
Over three years ago, Eaton launched a product called the smart breaker, which allowed users to monitor and control their electrical usage at the breaker level through a phone app. As part of this launch, 100 employees were asked to participate in a pilot program to start to build some critical mass around the available data. This pilot was also used by our Center for Intelligent Power to identify potential commercial uses for the data generated by the smart breakers.
One particular area of opportunity was looking deeply in how we could address the opportunities and gaps in the healthcare market. Our hypothesis was that when these breakers were installed to control specific, critical loads, they could become a good proxy to monitor the day-to-day activities of a resident in that home. We call these Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
Here’s how it works: from the time we wake up to the time we got to sleep at night, we have routines. Meal preparation, hygiene, comings and goings, relaxing, bathing, sleeping, etc. While we go about our daily lives, we are also consuming electricity, turning lights on and off, using a stove, microwave, coffee maker, television--often without thinking about it. Each time we use electricity, there is an opportunity to collect data, and when there is data, there is an opportunity to apply intelligence.
In the hands of the data scientist from our Center for Intelligent Power, this data can be used to establish a baseline of health and wellbeing. Once established, it can also be used to predict declines in health, or to identify markers that could warrant intervention from a healthcare provider. The solution, which we call Smart Ambient Monitoring is currently available as a data feed or API (application programming interface) that can be integrated into device-based monitoring solution to provide a more complete ‘context for care’ for those services.
We anticipate a future state where we can deliver those insights through our own Brightlayer Home app, which is the control app for our smart breakers, as well as the integration of data from our smart wiring devices (electrical switches and outlets) to provide a more complete view of a resident’s daily activities as viewed through their usage of electric appliances and devices.
Eaton's Center for Intelligent Power enlisted the aid of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to conduct a 30 day experiment regarding the efficacy of using electrical data to accurately detect activities of daily living.
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