Making a difference with Wearable Technology

Wearable technology is a growing field; encompassing far more more than watches which monitor steps and heart rate and virtual reality headsets.  Did you know that individual monitoring products are making a critical difference in the lives of patients in hospital and care facilities?

picture of smart socks and the monitoring software.

Smart socks and screenshot of the monitoring software.

One of our clients, Palarum, has developed socks that use electronic sensors to geolocate a patient and their movement activity via a wireless network. These IOT-enabled socks provide analytics that differentiate between a patient moving in bed or a patient attempting to get out of bed unassisted. The data is is collected by the sock, analyzed, and when certain criteria is met, an alert is transmitted via WiFi to a badge worn by caregivers notifying them of a patient’s activity.

Easier access to this type of data can:

  • Decrease hospital liabilities from falls
  • Significantly improve response time to patients needs
  • Reduce staff fatigue by providing easier monitoring

When properly implemented, these socks have been shown to reduce falls 50%. This is a noteworthy statistic when you reflect on the adverse effects of falls for patients and the financial impact to hospitals. Consider that every year nearly 700,000 to 1 million patients fall during a hospital stay and the value of the product becomes apparent. Given that the average financial cost for a patient fall is over $10,000 per fall ($10 Billion annually); using these hi-tech wearables has the potential to generate a huge savings. The financial costs don’t take into consideration the personal cost and frustration for patients and their families when falls occur. In addition to monitoring for patient falls, the socks can monitor a patient’s activities to make sure they are complying with a doctor’s guidelines such as limits to weight-bearing movement.

ADL is responsible for making the PC Boards which are added to the enclosures used in these socks and the caregiver badges.  The digital components we provided had to integrate with the sensors in the sock and work in a variety of sock sizes.  In addition the socks needed to be reusable and cleanable.  We are proud of being selected as a partner for this project because it:

  • Reflects our commitment to quality
  • Demonstrates our ability to build PC boards, assemblies, and more advanced integrations
  • Provide design support for products as they evolve

What’s your next project? Contact ADL Technology so we can partner with you to build a better world.