Using IoT to prevent seizures - A speculative design

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Using Internet-of-Things to prevent Seizures

A Speculative Design

Estimated read time: 8 minutes

Role

Product Designer

UX researcher

Duration

2 days

Project Brief

There is need for a SOA (State Of the Art) speculative conceptual interaction design that takes advantage of new emergent technology utilized in the health care sector in creative ways.

Problem

when you think about health problems people are facing today, there are some individuals suffering from psychological health disorders that cause seizures, panic episodes, and things of that nature

Solution

Develop a speculative design solution that monitors the brain activity to detect and prevent seizures, thus improving the quality of these individuals.

Design preview

Introduction

Internet of Things which was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999 is a technological trend that envisions a global network of machines and devices interacting with each other [1]. As the technology industry advances, this is an important area for future technology given that more companies are moving towards wireless and internet based solutions. As of now there is no definite description for IoT that is accepted by the community of academics and researchers, however S.Madakam et al [2] suggest that it can be best described as “an open and comprehensive network of intelligent objects that have the capacity to auto-organize, share information, data and resources, reacting and acting in face of situations and changes in the environment”.

IoT in Healthcare

The use of IoT in the health care sector has made a lot headway in recent times. From privately used devices like smart watches/fitbits that monitor and create personal health records to large scale industrial systems like smart homes for care of the ederly population [3][4]. These systems have efficiency of monitoring data as well improving the user’s quality of life. After researching and getting insights on IoT and its application in healthcare, my team decided to channel our efforts towards mental health. We realised that when you think about health problems people are facing today, there are some individuals suffering from psychological health disorders that cause seizures, panic episodes, and things of that nature. Therefore we want to develop a solution that monitors the brain activity to detect and prevent seizures, thus improving the quality of these individuals.

Emergent technology

Advances in the neuroscience field have revealed ways to connect and communicate with the brain with the use of a Brain-computer interface (BCI). The project by Chalmers researcher Max Ortiz catalan[5] demonstrates what is possible with this technology. In his research, he develops a thought controlled prosthetic to improve the lives of amputees. It is controlled by signals from the brain and he claims that the artificial arm can be controlled the same way as their biological arm. Figure 1 is an illustration of the artificial arm in use.

The paper by Kodali et al [6] proposes a healthcare record system that will be facilitated by IoT. It will apply a cloud computing approach for integrating all the hospital records from small size to large size, so as to efficiently maintain a patient's data under one roof. It will provide wireless monitoring of patients inside the hospital premises by deploying wireless systems to gather pulse and oxygen saturation measurements from patients.

Speculative interaction Design

The envisioned design is built upon existing technology and their various modes of applications. In taking an IoT approach, we aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these systems thus making it easier for human operation (use) as well as improving quality of life.

Technology and System

The system comprises three aspects: Wireless communication, Monitoring of brain activity, and Connected home. IoT is the basis of the technology, this will facilitate the monitoring of data, wireless transfer of data to be analysed, and also the communication between the various relevant devices in the system. Implants and chords will be used to read signals of the brain activity when connected to the main wearable piece. The system is connected to home devices like lights and sound players which is a response to the analysed readings from the brain activity.

Figure 2: Wearable ear technology

The sketch in figure 2 illustrates the envisioned design of the wearable technology. It is a design concept to be worn over the ears. It is equipped with adjustable points to ensure that it accommodates different ears and is comfortable. As it is an IoT device, the system is equipped with a microcontroller and wifi module to facilitate reading and transmission of data. The device is also equipped with a connection jack to connect with the user’s implants to establish the monitoring activity.

Figure 3: Device connected

The second sketch shows the device in use. As you can see, the device is form fitted over the ears and is connected to the port of the implant, which enables the monitoring process. The data from the monitoring is concurrently sent to the cloud app which then sends appropriate instructions for lights and sounds sources.

Figure 4: System flow chart

Figure 4 is a simple flow chart diagram illustrating the usage process of the envisioned device. First the user needs to be wearing the ear technology and it should be connected to the implanted ports which would initiate the brain monitoring process. Once the brain monitoring commences, if the system fails to transmit data from the monitoring activity, a system reboot is executed. Moreover while monitoring, readings will be concurrently transmitted to a cloud app in realtime, which is analysed to detect any changes. If a change is detected, appropriate instructions are sent to light and sound sources in order to change the ambiance of the user’s environment in order change the mood and make the user more comfortable, thus preventing an episode or at the very least minimize its severity.

Testing and Evaluation

Before carrying out any operation to implant cords and sensors into the brain there will be a routine preoperative testing conducted. Testing and evaluation will be conducted in a controlled environment, the brain activity of a patient will be monitored via nodes on the head whereas the physical / outward expressions of the participant will be monitored through live video and audio recordings. There would also be additional testing to see the effects the visual and audio stimuli poses on the participants.

Ethical concerns

When it comes to ethics of the design, one of the major concerns is the invasiveness the system poses on the lives of the people using it. Clerc et al [7] provides an ethical reflection on brain-computer interfacing, and it highlights the different levels of invasiveness with neuroprosthetics. In this case we have an invasive interface because it requires surgical implantation of micros nodes to the brain. Therefore one must consider the risk-benefit ratio approach because in cases where there may b real prospect for improving a person's condition, if it is not logically justifiable then it is not morally acceptable to open the skull of another human being unless the risk being taken is balanced by the prospect of improvement [7]. The process of Monitoring is another major concern for the patients, taking this into consideration the outer part of the device is detachable from the implants as illustrated in the figures 2 and 3. Thus participants can be assured that the device is not permanently connected at all times and is not being monitored.

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In our endeavour to create an innovative health care device for the future, we will strive to address the following UN sustainability goal: Goal 3 - Good health and well being. This requires that we ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being of people at all ages [8]. This is enforced in our project as the speculated design / product aims to prevent seizures in the attempt to improve the quality of life of people struggling with this issue. Moreover the device will not only prevent seizures but also catastrophic events like dangerous falls caused by the seizures. This is also highlighted in target 3.4 [8], which aims to reduce one third of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment, and also promote mental health and well-being of the people.

Conclusion

The paper has introduced you to the world of IoT and its applications in the healthcare sector. It shined light on emergent technology of IoT in healthcare. A prevalent problem has been identified and as well it presents a speculated design to address the problem. It has also talked about the ethics concerning the proposed solution. And last but not least it has highlighted the UN SDGs that will be addressed with the development of the project.

References

[1] Lee, In, and Kyoochun Lee. "The Internet of Things (IoT): Applications, investments, and
challenges for enterprises." Business Horizons 58, no. 4 (2015): 431-440.

[2] Madakam, Somayya, Vihar Lake, Vihar Lake, and Vihar Lake. "Internet of Things (IoT): A
literature review." Journal of Computer and Communications 3, no. 05 (2015): 164.

[3] D. Choi, H. Choi and D. Shon, "Future changes to smart home based on AAL healthcare
service", Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 190-199,
2019. Available: 10.1080/13467581.2019.1617718 [Accessed 15 November 2021].

[4] "The Role of IoT in the Elderly Care Industry — amBX SmartCore", amBX SmartCore, 2021.
[Online]. Available: https://www.ambx.com/news/2020/6/4/iothealthcare. [Accessed: 15- Nov2021].

[5] "Thought-controlled prosthesis is changing the lives of amputees | Chalmers", Chalmers.se,
2021. [Online].
Available:https://www.chalmers.se/en/news/Pages/Thought-controlled-prosthesis-is-changing-th
e-lives-of-amputees.aspx. [Accessed: 15- Nov- 2021].

[6] Kodali, Ravi Kishore, Govinda Swamy, and Boppana Lakshmi. "An implementation of IoT for
healthcare." In 2015 IEEE Recent Advances in Intelligent Computational Systems (RAICS), pp.
411-416. IEEE, 2015.

[7] Clerc, M, Bougrain, L, & Lotte, F (eds) 2016, Brain-Computer Interfaces 2 : Technology and
Applications, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, Newark. Available from: ProQuest Ebook
Central. [15 November 2021].

[8] United Nations "THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development", Sdgs.un.org, 2021. [Online].
Available: https://sdgs.un.org/goals. [Accessed: 15- Nov- 2021]