2023-10-21 05:30:00
They do not predict the future but aging and loss of autonomy. In Saint-Étienne (Loire), within the MedTechLab of the engineering and health center of the École des Mines Saint-Étienne, concrete solutions using artificial intelligence are now being tested by researchers in order to improve the daily lives of seniors and the sick. These solutions are being tested in partnership with Aésio Santé, manager of more than 200 healthcare establishments, which provides volunteer residents and patients.
Around ten researchers live together in this 2.0 lab where around fifteen projects, using algorithms, have seen the light of day since 2018. Today, the first solutions deployed are on the verge of being commercialized. This is the case with the fragility box. An Internet box equipped with sensors which, placed in an elderly person’s apartment, make it possible to measure their living and travel habits, model them and understand them.
A digital twin to predict addiction
“We are creating a sort of digital twin of the resident in order to predict their onset of dependence,” explains Vincent Augusto, co-responsible for the MedTechLab. Using the data collected, researchers from the Saint-Étienne School of Mines study the person’s daily activity and their lifestyle habits over the long term. “If we observe, for example, that walking speed decreases over the months, we send an alert to the doctor,” continues the scientist.
The device, which was first tested within the MedTechLab, in a specifically equipped apartment, is entering a crucial stage. “We are about to launch a clinical study to test this frailty box, in real conditions, with 50 people living alone around Lyon and Saint-Étienne. » To do this, the Ecole des Mines works in partnership with geriatricians from the University Hospitals of Lyon and Saint-Étienne, responsible for recruiting these patients.
“The particularity of the MedTechLab is that it really creates the link between the research laboratory and health establishments,” appreciates Vincent Augusto. Scientists from Mines de Saint-Étienne have taken up various subjects such as cognitive disorders, falls after the age of 50, memory loss, etc. And faced with each problem, they have developed a solution.
“Alain” is one of them. This interactive image and games projector is being tested in nursing homes with patients suffering from a disability or Alzheimer’s disease. “Projecting images on a table or on the floor sort of takes them out of their apathy,” observes Rénald Gaboriau, health researcher and co-director of the research department of the company MJ Innov.
The Alain interactive image and games projector is being tested in nursing homes with patients suffering from a disability or Alzheimer’s disease. LP/Cyril Michaud
Another innovation: Prévichute, a platform capable of assessing the risk of falls in each patient aged over 50. “Falling is the leading cause of accidental death among people over 65,” recalls Julia Fleck, teacher-researcher. In conjunction with a local company, researchers have also developed a bed equipped with sensors capable of studying the sleep of vulnerable people and which is already on the market.
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