An Early Detection System for Dementia Using the M2 M/IoT Platform

The number of elderly people living alone has been increasing in Japan. If dementia has been detected at an early stage, the progress of disease can be slowed. Therefore, early detection of dementia is so beneficial to the patient therapy. Most of dementia symptoms can be detected by housemates, noticing some changes of behavior in elderly people. However, it is difficult to detect early symptoms of dementia in elderly people living alone. In this study, we proposed a system which detects the symptoms of the elderly people living alone by using the M2M (Machine-to-Machine) /IoT (Internet of Things) platform. We installed sensors inside the house of elderly people living alone. These sensors can detect behavior by initial symptoms of the dementia. Also, these sensors' data will be used as behavioral data of dementia patients. In addition, we conducted a questionnaire about their habits and personalities. These questionnaires' results were used as an attribute data of the subjects. The system analyzes the two data and then determines the presence or the absence of dementia.