SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Abstract An estimatedmillion Americans ageand older are living with Alzheimerandapos s diseaseADand as the population agesthis number is expected to rise tomillion byAgitation is one of the most common and distressing neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimerandapos s disease and related dementiasADRDfor patients in the ambulatory and long term careLTCsettingsAgitation contributes to increased healthcare costsgreater caregiver distress and worse quality of lifeA significant challenge in the management of agitation is obtaining real time objective data on symptom patternsSymptom rating scales are time consuming and frequently underutilized by LTC staffSuch subjective differences in symptom reporting makes measurement of treatment response or non response quite difficultCliniciansLTC staff and caregivers need a more cost effectivesimple way to objectively measure agitationWhile efforts have been made to capture this data using wireless sensorsnone to date have been made commercially availableCareBandan Illinois based small businessis developing an end to end wearable technology and real time data platform for people living with ADRDPreliminary studies have demonstrated CareBandandapos s ability to provides real time indoor and outdoor precise locationmovementand activity dataCareBandandapos s system is passivealways on and does not require wi fi or traditional cellular technology to send data to the secure HIPAA compliant CareBand cloudIn Phase Ithe PI and collaborating siteBethany Villagewill determine the feasibility and user acceptability of the device as well as the ability to correlate agitation scale data to that of CareBandandapos s dataAimsEngineer powerefficient firmware to collect granular motion data within a given room or hallwaye gpacingand to build cloud logic to analyze this granular data for web and mobile applicationsTest CareBand in the Bethany Village long term care facility withdementia patients andstaff members for a period ofweeksEvaluate the outcomes of CareBand for usability among patientsfamiliesand staff and its ability accurately detect agitationAt the end of Phase ICareBand will have implemented the CareBand technology in a long term care facility environmentreceived feedback on the hardware and software from end usersand assessed correlation of agitation with increased patient movementPhase II efforts will focus on construction of algorithms informed by any findings of correlationthe creation of a predictive model around impending agitationand a longitudinal study in multiple long term care facilities serving individuals with ADRDPhase II may also include adding heartrate sensors to the CareBand device for enhanced agitation measurementsA significant market opportunity exists for the CareBand technology in alerting caregivers to early signs of agitated behavior in people living with dementiaallowing caregivers to intervene before the need for psychotropic medication or hospitalizationThis preemptive intervention enhances quality of life for individuals living ADRD and it decreases burden on caregivers Narrative Agitation is one of the most common and distressing neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimerandapos s disease and related dementiasADRDfor patients in the ambulatory and long term careLTCsettingsAgitation contributes to increased healthcare costsgreater caregiver distress and worse quality of lifeA significant challenge in the management of agitation is obtaining real time objective data on symptom patternsCareBand is developing an end to end wearable technology and real time data platform for people living with ADRD that will predict impending agitation in the ADRD patient population
