A 20 million-pound research center has been created to find technological solutions to treat dementia

One in three people born in the UK this year will develop dementia during their lifetime, while one in four hospital beds will be used by people suffering from this disease.

The research center, based at Imperial College London, is tasked with developing inexpensive tools to reduce the number of additional care required by dementia patients and to enable them to monitor more closely the patients. evolution of their state.

Some of the technologies developed at the center will include:

• Sensors placed around the house or on the patient's body to detect vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
• An artificial intelligence that will automatically integrate information about the patient and signal any changes, for example by highlighting a change in walking patterns that may suggest that a patient is at risk of a fall.
• Technology that enables researchers and medical teams to track the memory and cognitive function of a patient.
• Methods of monitoring the quality of sleep. Sleep disruption is a major problem in dementia, but it is difficult to monitor at home. The center will develop new methods of monitoring sleep through motion sensors in beds and sheets.
• Simple and fast home tests for common infections. Infections are a major problem for people with dementia and often result in hospital stays.
• Robotic devices that interact with patients with dementia. These devices will help alert patients to safety hazards, such as spilling liquid on the floor or a cooktop left on.

These developments are expected to create "dementia-friendly" homes that will provide patients with greater independence while reducing the burden of health services.

Professor David Sharp, director of the new center, said physicians could begin offering this technology to patients over the next decade, as a result of new research.

"The general practitioner can have a dashboard of different applications or different ways to interact with the people he or she selects, and then provide a customized set of applications that are particularly relevant to individuals," he says. declared.

"I think we are not so far away from having this level of electronic engagement."

He added, "You could have your dementia engineer come and deploy the technology in your house, and that would provide the kind of information we are talking about.

"So it may sound like science fiction, but I think a lot of the elements are in place."

As part of this project, the prototypes will be produced by engineers, tested with patients in a controlled environment, then deployed in a larger group, who can try them out at home.

Sharp believes that the current system of dementia care is "down," but added that it could be transformed with the help of technology.

"If you're a dementia nurse, we think our technology will help you prioritize how you use your time, so you'll be a lot smarter in the way you interact with patients," she says. he declared.

"If we can improve the way GPs work, we can do it more effectively.

"If we can reduce the number of admissions to the hospital, if we can keep people out of nursing homes and hospitals as long as possible, this will have major economic benefits."

Science Minister Chris Skidmore said, "Advanced technologies such as robotics and AI have great potential to help us in the event of illness or old age.

"This project will help people with dementia stay at home longer, with the dignity and independence we all deserve."

The new center partners with six others, which together form the UK Dementia Research Institute.