Medical technology is about helping people through innovations, supporting them and making their everyday lives easier. That's why two master's students designed technical support for elderly people in the course "Active and Assisted Living". Justin Combs and Patrick Juriga developed and built a " Smart Cane" in the seminar.
The fear of falling is common among the elderly and could lead to decreased time spent walking. With lowered mobility, an elderly person loses more than just motor skills, they lose their independence, which can have negative effects on their mental health. This feeling of helplessness or dependency is something the Smart Cane is attempting to combat. This device is meant to encourage the elderly to maintain their mobility and independence while bringing peace of mind to them and their caretakers.
The device developed for this project is a walking cane with novel technological features and mechanical functions to assist the elderly. The integrated technology includes a 9-axis Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Bluetooth and WIFI connectivity, and GPS positioning for navigation. Though none of these technologies is new to devices, the implementation of these features is novel to the walking cane. The cane’s main features include a screen display integrated into the handle and a ”Take-Me-Home” button that, when pressed, will navigate the user to a predetermined ”home” location via navigational arrows displayed on the screen. The patient’s ”home” location can be changed within the accompanying app, so this device is used when a person is travelling and staying in other cities.
The device developed for this project is a walking cane with novel technical features and mechanical functions to assist the elderly. The main features of the cane include a screen integrated into the handle and a "Take me home" button that, when pressed, navigates the user to the pre-determined home using navigation instructions on the screen. The device developed for this project is a walking cane with novel technical features and mechanical functions to assist the elderly. The main features of the cane include a screen integrated into the handle and a "Take me home" button that, when pressed, navigates the user to the pre-determined home using navigation instructions on the screen. The location can, of course, be adjusted in the associated app so that the device can also be used when travelling and staying in other cities.
Smart Cane in use. ©Juriga, Combs
