Sensors Look Out for the Elderly

By Tam Harbert

October 2006

We've all seen those late-night commercials advertising pendants our aging parents can use to call for help. However, sometimes grandma forgets to wear the pendant. Even if she is wearing it, "Eighty percent of the time, the elderly person in an emergency is confused or "semiconscious" and may not be able to do something as simple as press a button to call for help," says Bryan Fuhr, principal of Red Wing Technologies, a small market-development consulting company specializing in sensors and automation.

Two years ago, Red Wing got a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a sensor-based monitoring system for the elderly. The result is a product, called eNeighbor™, that Red Wing launched in June through its newly formed Healthsense division.
Through a network of sensors in the home, a remote son or daughter can tell if grandma has gotten out of bed today, flushed the toilet or opened the refrigerator door. If something seems wrong, they can call to check on her or call for emergency medical care."It helps you create your own care network," says Fuhr.