Tiresias: A low-cost networked UWB radar system for in-home monitoring
of dementia patients
Abstract
This paper describes Tiresias, a low-cost, unobtrusive networked radar
system designed to monitor vulnerable patients in domestic environments
and provide high quality behavioural and health data. Dementia is a
disease that affects millions worldwide and progressively degrades an
individual’s ability to care for themselves. Eventually most people
living with dementia will need to reside in assisted living facilities
as they become unable to care for themselves. Understanding the effects
dementia has on ability to self-care and extending the length of time
people living with dementia can remain living independently are key
goals of dementia research and care. The networked radar system proposed
in this paper is designed to provide high quality behavioural and health
data from domestic environments. This is achieved using multiple radar
sensors networked together with their data outputs integrated and
processed to produce high confidence measures of position and movement.
It is hoped the data produced by this system will both provide insights
into how dementia progresses, and also help monitor vulnerable
individuals in their own homes, allowing them to remain independent
longer than would otherwise be possible.