{"id":484659,"date":"2024-09-05T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T04:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=484659"},"modified":"2024-09-05T06:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T04:30:00","slug":"elderlys-living-standards-improve-with-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/elderlys-living-standards-improve-with-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Elderly’s living standards improve with AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To many, it might come as a shock, but people in Europe and North America spend, on average, 90% of their time indoors<\/a>. In older adults, most of this share is spent at home. As the population ages, how can we improve the quality of life for older people while taking good care of them? Yet again, AI can step in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this is important:<\/h2>

People, and especially the elderly, spend most of their time indoors. AI can help enhance living standards and provide healthcare services in underserved areas. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence System Institute (EAISI<\/a>) and 4TU.Built Environment<\/a> recently co-organized a lunch meeting about health in the built environment. \u2018AI in aging care anywhere: bringing technological advances to rural areas\u2019 was the topic of a keynote given by visiting professor Jos\u00e9 Manuel Garc\u00eda Alonso. The academic is an associate professor at the University of Extremadura (UEx), Spain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tailor-made voice assistant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Extremadura is one of the poorest regions in Spain and one of those that are depopulating faster. According to a recent study<\/a> by the local institute of statistics IEEX, given current demographic trends, the region will lose 3.4% of its population in the coming 15 years. In contrast, the overall population of Spain would increase by over 10%. Not only is the region’s population aging but it is also scattered, living in smaller villages. Hence, there is a need for innovation to effectively lend a helping hand.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the work of researchers worldwide in gerontechnology\u2014a research field combining the study of aging with technology\u2014UEx researchers decided to work themselves on technologies to adapt to the Extremadura context. One example is ACHO, a voice assistant that reminds the user to take medicines and, when asked, recalls which ones have already been taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jos\u00e9 Manuel Garc\u00eda Alonso – \u00a9 Innovation Origins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tracking medication intake<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ACHO has a wake-up word, asks and replies to questions, and can work offline\u2013 not all elderlies have an internet connection. \u201cBut users can also tell ACHO if there is any problem. For example, if they finished a medication, they might have to wait until the following week when one of their relatives brought them because there is no pharmacy in their village. This way, we track how a medication is being taken,\u201d explains Garc\u00eda Alonso. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users’ reactions differ. Although people voluntarily took part in the study, some stopped using it after a couple of days, while others enjoyed having conversations with ACHO. UEx filed a patent for the voice assistant, as it plans to grant intellectual property rights to a company that could commercialize the device. Besides, the researchers are working to improve the device by integrating suitable AI models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saving time, keeping quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many emerging healthcare technologies focus on bringing care services to the home\u2014in a way, ACHO is also an example of this trend. Yet, many challenges remain for hospitals, the most overwhelming being the lack of personnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garc\u00eda Alonso is also part of a collaboration with Evora University and its nursing school. In one of the projects, UEx researchers created a machine learning-powered web application for nurses to collect information about older adults to monitor their body functions. Conventionally, nurses follow World Health Organization guidelines, prescribing to take several measurements requiring a lengthy procedure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nurses need to fill in questionnaires consisting of 31 questions. The scientists used machine learning to classify data and reduce the time needed to complete the questionnaires. As a result, they came up with two slimmer versions. The first cut 20% of the questions, scoring 99% accuracy. “Saving 20% of that time means having more free time to spend with the patients without losing accuracy,\u201d underlines the professor. The second only kept 14 questions, reaching 96% accuracy. Although not as accurate, this version is suitable for home use. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>
<\/div><\/div>
This is how mathematical models can save the lives of premature babies<\/div>
“Every day, I look at how we can use technology to give babies a better start,” says Carola van Pul, clinical physicist at M\u00e1xima MC (MMC) and professor of clinical physics at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU\/e). She researches how technology can improve the treatment of patients in the hospital and has focused in recent years on improving technology in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Quantum computing is next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Much more can be done to help health professionals and guarantee high care standards for the elderly. Another research project Garc\u00eda Alonso participated in explored the possibilities of quantum computing for personalized medicine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost elderly people take multiple medicines. Whenever a new problem arises, and doctors need to prescribe a new medication, it is not only about understanding if such treatment works for the patient. In addition, it is key to see how that new care interacts with one\u2019s body, genetics, and other medicines one is already taking. These are all complex variables that determine the requirement for high computing power, something quantum computers can offer,\u201d he sums up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To many, it might come as a shock, but people in Europe and North America spend, on average, 90% of their time indoors. In older adults, most of this share is spent at home. As the population ages, how can we improve the quality of life for older people while taking good care of them? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2084,"featured_media":506374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-partner.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84026],"tags":[70670,10373,2519],"location":[6763,39958],"article_type":[43139],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[82795],"class_list":["post-484659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data","tag-4tu-bouw","tag-ai","tag-tue-en","location-netherlands","location-spain","article_type-features","reboot-archive-data"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"A tailor-made voice assistant and a machine learning model are two examples of how AI can improve the elderly living standards in rural areas.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Mauro Mereu","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/mauro-mereu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/innovationorigins_an_old_person_interacting_at_home_with_an_AI-_1552938b-96f8-47bf-a466-00d9135dd559.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["DATA+<\/a>"],"unlinked":["DATA+<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["4TU.Built Environment<\/a>","AI<\/a>","TU\/e<\/a>"],"unlinked":["4TU.Built Environment<\/span>","AI<\/span>","TU\/e<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 5, 2024","modified":"Updated on September 5, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 5, 2024 6:30 am","modified":"Updated on September 5, 2024 6:30 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=484659"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=484659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}