DEVELOPMENT OF EMERGENCY MONITORING SYSTEM FOR ELDERLY WHO LIVE ALONE

In this paper, we introduce a mobile device for the monitoring of the elderly vital signs. Using this mobile device, we composed the emergency monitoring system. There are so many vital signs to monitor, but we simplified vital signs as activity and heart rate. We measured the activity using 3-axis accelerometer and measured the heart rate using pulse oxymeter. The major problem of pulse oxymeter is motion artifact. But we suggested a new method using the combination of these two sensors. In case of active motion, we used and analyzed the accelerometer signal and withdraw the pulse oxymeter signal. In case of no activity, we adopt pulse oxymeter signal which has no motion artifacts. The important thing is to categorize activity patterns such as normal or abnormal activity. When the device detects abnormal condition, it sends a short message to server and then connected to the u-Healthcare center or emergency center.