Modern geriatric medicine with ECG from the mattress

Age medicine of the future: ECG from the mattress, fall sensor and thirst alarm

12/11/2014

In the future, high-tech aids in geriatric medicine, such as an ECG in the mattress and fall and thirst sensors, could bring a great deal of relief for the patients and the health system. For there are currently certain controls, including heart and blood pressure in the hospital. This is usually unpleasant for older people and also causes high costs. The aim is to integrate the high-tech aids in everyday objects such as the clothing of the elderly, so that the recording of medical data is automatic and without burden on those affected. The news agency „dpa“ Talked to experts about the new technologies that are currently in the testing phase.

ECG from the mattress and other high-tech aids for geriatric medicine can make life easier for seniors
High-tech aids, such as an ECG from the mattress or a sensor that reminds seniors about drinking, could significantly relieve the healthcare system in the future and bring great benefits for those affected. Because when older people do not take enough liquid, the dehydration threatens with serious consequences for the health. This can lead to cardiovascular problems, an increased risk of falls and confusion. To prevent dehydration in seniors, researchers from Aachen have developed a sensor that indicates dehydration. „Four electrodes are glued to the body. These indicate the water content in the muscle“, explains Professor Steffen Leonhardt from the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering at the RWTH Aachen to the news agency. The thirst sensor is currently still in the test phase.

As part of the so-called Geronto technology, more and more high-tech aids with sensors for geriatric medicine are being developed. „Geronto technology currently has many university facilities“, reports Professor Ralf-Joachim Schulz from the board of the German society for geriatry and chief physician of the St. Marien hospital in Cologne in the discussion with the agency. Here, the preservation of the independence of senior citizens in the foreground. This is how geriatrics deals with the earliest possible rehabilitation and the use of useful aids, Schulz says.

High-tech aids such as thirst alarm or fall sensor are to be integrated into age items and clothing
The central question is how to integrate the sensors into everyday objects, according to the chief physician. There are many approaches such as a sensor in the shoes of the elderly. „This way you can see how far a person is mobile. How is his weight transfer. Is he at risk of falling??“, explains Schulz. It is possible that an ECG in clothing may collect medical data. In that case, the hospital stay for the person concerned, which would otherwise be necessary to carry out the appropriate checks on the heart and blood pressure, is no longer necessary. „Certain centers will then be able to keep patients out of the hospital“, so the expert. In terms of demographic development, such technologies are also essential, as medical surveillance would eventually become unaffordable. In addition, the sensor technology has a great advantage for the patients who could then live at home.

The extent of medical surveillance with high-tech tools such as the mattress ECG must be ethically verified
The researchers face not only technical problems in the development of high-tech aids, but also the question of how far medical supervision can be ethically based. For example, an ECG sensor in bed currently presents Aachen researchers with major challenges. On the one hand, the ECG should collect data in the mattress, but at the same time it could also act as an alarm if critical situations of the heart occur more frequently. Also, a weight sensor could be integrated into the bed, alerting caregivers when a patient has not returned from using the restroom, possibly because of an emergency situation. „You have to research to what extent such a thing is feasible. How far can one protect the privacy of the person. How far can I go??“, so Schulz.

Professor Ursula Müller-Werdan from the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg sees above all advantages for everyday hospital life in the „Clever bed“. Patients find the cables that are connected to the conventional ECG to the body, usually as a burden, she told the news agency. „If you hang on the cable, then that's just not pleasant“, so the geriatric expert. „Our aim is to make hospital treatment more humane.“ (Ag)