Alpha Monitor
Alpha Monitor improves the well-being of Alzheimer's patients by building a wearable that prevents wandering, falls, and accidents by monitoring the patient's body movements and health conditions.
Alzheimer's disease is a devastating condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It is characterized by a decline in cognitive function, including memory, language, and problem-solving skills, as well as changes in behavior and personality.
According to current estimates, there are more than 60 million people living with Alzheimer's disease, and this number is expected to almost double every 20 years, reaching 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050.
Patients suffering from this devastating disease don’t have proper control over their bodies and mental conditions.
My grandmother was one of many, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She had severe cases of wandering, where she used to wander from place to place at abnormal times.
She would often get up in the middle of the night or early in the morning and walk away without the caregiver noticing, resulting in a number of accidents and injuries inside the home.
In some cases, she even wandered outside the home and got lost.
The caregiver responsible for my grandmother had a difficult time monitoring her condition and ensuring her safety.
In addition to wandering, Alzheimer's patients may also show sudden signs of physical aggression without any control, which can be dangerous for both the patient and those around them.
My grandmother sometimes fell to the ground without anyone noticing, resulting in serious injuries.
Seeing these accidents happen terrified me a lot, giving me a huge push to build an aid for my grandmother and Alzheimer's patients worldwide.
The solution is a simple to set up wearable device that prevents accidents and wandering of Alzheimer's by precisely monitoring the patient's monitoring body movements, postures, falls and health conditions.
Our device is a wearable worn by Alzheimer's patients. The wearable is totally customizable and can be worn as a watch, badge, on a sock, or in a pant.
The wearable monitors the patient's status of wandering, posture, falls, pulse rate, and body temperature. All the data from the wearable is then transmitted to a central alarm device which acts like a hub.
If the person gets out of his/her bed and starts wandering, or if the patient falls down, or has an abnormal pulse or body temperature, the alarm turns on and alerts the caregiver taking care of the patient.
The hub also transmits the data received by the wearable to a mobile app that the family members, doctor, and caregiver download. A notification is also sent to the caregiver’s phone. An SMS and a phone call are also sent to the mobile phone.
My solution builds a better life and well-being for Alzheimer's Patients, their families, and caregivers. We remove the stress that many caregivers and family members go through while taking care of an Alzheimer's patient.
It mainly serves the caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. By providing a way to monitor the patient's movements, posture falls, pulse rate, and body temperature, my device helps caregivers manage their loved ones more effectively and respond more quickly in an emergency.
The device also creates a better well-being for individuals with Alzheimer's disease, as it helps reduce the risk of accidents and injuries by alerting caregivers when the patient is at risk of wandering or falling.
Additionally, by providing a way for caregivers to monitor the patient's health indicators (such as pulse rate and body temperature), the device helps identify any potential health issues or concerns more quickly, which helps to improve the patient's overall health and well-being.
Overall, I believe that my solution reduces the burden on caregivers and improves the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer's disease by providing a tool that can help improve safety and support better care management.
We're working with India's dementia-care NGO - ARDSI (Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India) and ADI (Alzheimer's Disease International). We're also working with Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad.
We're constantly testing our product with them, getting feedback from neurologists, and talking to caregivers and Alzheimer's patients.
Having witnessed my grandmother's struggle with Alzheimer's also gives me an edge in developing and building a product that helps Alzheimer's patients.
About Me
I, Hemesh, am a Maker and an Innovator. I built various other products and have experience in robotics, coding, web and app development. I learnt everything from the Internet!
My website - https://hemesh.tech/
Prime Minister's Award
I received the highest civilian honour for students in India, the Bal Puraskar, from the Shri Narendra Modi, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India.
Prime Minister's Tweet - https://twitter.com/narendramo...
https://twitter.com/smritiiran...
Samsung Solve For Tomorrow
I also won the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow contest, out of 18,000 college students. I received a grant of $40,000 and 6 months of incubation at IIT Delhi, one of the top engineering colleges in India.
https://news.samsung.com/in/me...
https://news.samsung.com/in/te...
Ideate For India
I am the winner of Ideate For India out of 133,000 students in India. The top 50 students were declared 'Tech Creation Champions' and were invited to Delhi.
https://hemesh.tech/achievemen...
Recognition by the Hon'ble Governor of State (Telangana)
I was appreciated by the Hon'ble Governor of Telangana - Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Indian Republic Day.
https://twitter.com/DrTamilisa...
Interview on Cartoon Network - https://twitter.com/hemeshch/s...
Book by Puffin Publishers - https://twitter.com/hemeshch/s...
Other things - https://hemesh.tech/achievemen...
Our team is proud to be collaborating with some of the leading organizations in the field of dementia care, including ARDSI (Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India) and ADI (Alzheimer's Disease International), as well as Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad.
We are working closely with these organizations, seeking input and feedback from neurologists, caregivers, and Alzheimer's patients to ensure that our product is effective and user-friendly.
Our goal is to provide a solution that addresses the needs of both caregivers and individuals with Alzheimer's disease, and we are committed to ongoing testing and refining our product to achieve that goal.
- Improving healthcare access and health outcomes; and reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities (Health)
- Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model
Existing solutions in the market for Alzheimer's patients are limited to basic GPS tracking devices and watches that are often clunky and difficult to use. They do not provide monitoring of body movements.
Alpha Monitor provides a new approach to preventing accidents and wandering in Alzheimer's patients by monitoring very effectively.
The device provides an added layer of security by alerting the caregiver immediately in case of wandering, falls, abnormal pulse, or body temperature.
This can help prevent accidents and injuries, and give the caregiver peace of mind knowing they will be alerted if the patient is in danger.
The device is totally customizable according to the needs and comfort of the patient and is super easy to set up. The caregiver has to just put the wearable on the patient and plug in the hub.
Our device can change the market for monitoring Alzheimer's patients as it helps caregivers check on Alzheimer's patients easily.
It can also be used as a valuable tool for healthcare professionals to monitor the progression and overall well-being of their patients. Additionally, we can also lead the development of more advanced monitoring and safety devices for people with similar conditions.
We want to prevent over 1000 incidents of wandering, falls, and accidents among Alzheimer's patients.
To achieve this, we plan to collaborate with 500+ patients at ARDSI and partner with institutions such as Yashoda Hospitals and other specialized units for Alzheimer's and dementia care.
Our core technology is focused on the detection of posture, wandering, and falls in Alzheimer's patients via a customized wearable device.
We use IMU sensors to track movement and have trained a machine-learning model for movement detection.
The data is then transmitted to a central hub which acts as an alarm, via radio transmission or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and can be accessed by caregivers through an app (where the data is sent from a web server).
Additionally, we are utilizing machine learning on Edge Impulse and incorporating oximeters and temperature sensors to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of our technology.
- Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
- Biotechnology / Bioengineering
- Imaging and Sensor Technology
- Internet of Things
- India
We are currently conducting testing and gathering feedback from Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers at ARDSI.org with a small group of 5-6 individuals.
Our goal is to successfully launch our product by next year and expand our beta testing to reach 500-600 caregivers in India, the US, and the UK.
We currently face four barriers.
The first one is, as a school student, my time is limited. This makes it challenging to devote enough time to research and development, which can slow down the progress of our project.
Another barrier is we have to establish connections with more dementia care units in order to reach more patients and caregivers. This will allow us to expand the reach of our technology and gather more feedback, which is essential for the success of our project.
The third barrier is the lack of adequate tools and equipment for Research and Development that meet industry standards. Right now all the development, 3D Printing, and assembly for our product tests are done right in my small bedroom. This makes it challenging to conduct research and develop our technology to the level of quality and efficiency that is expected in the industry. But I'm managing and hacking around to build a useful product for Alzheimer's.
The fourth barrier is the lack of guidance and mentorship from experienced industry experts in the field of wearables and healthcare. Such mentorship would help us to gain insights and knowledge from those who have worked in similar fields, and to develop our technology more efficiently.
ARDSI, ADI, and Yashoda
We're working with India's dementia-care NGO - ARDSI (Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India) and ADI (Alzheimer's Disease International). We're also working with Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad.
We're constantly testing our product with them, getting feedback from neurologists, and talking to caregivers and Alzheimer's patients.
Samsung and IIT Delhi
We won the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow contest, out of 18,000 college students. I received a grant of $40,000 and 6 months of incubation at IIT Delhi, one of the top engineering colleges in India.
Key Activities:
Research, fabrication, user testing, and feedback analysis on our wearables and other devices to improve the well-being of Alzheimer's patients.
Channels:
B2B2C through ARDSI, elderly care units, clinics, neurologists, and e-commerce.
Revenue:
Direct sales of wearable and hub, subscription of the app, maintenance, and repairs.
Value Proposition:
We improve the well-being of Alzheimer's patients and caregivers by monitoring for wandering, falls, accidents and health.
Customer Segments:
Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, elderly and disabled communities, neurologists, paralyzed, and bedridden patients.
Customer Relationships:
Caregiver workshops, customizations, and support (video calls & emails).
To reach our target market, our distribution strategy is to collaborate with many elderly care units, neurologists, and other experts in the field of dementia care. This will enable us to make our product available to a large number of family members and caregivers of Alzheimer's patients.
To ensure profitability, we have already secured a set of grants from Samsung and IIT Delhi, totaling around 40,000 USD.
Our goal for financial sustainability is to achieve it through direct sales of our wearable device and hub. We expect to have a healthy gross margin of around 65%. Additionally, we plan to generate revenue by charging a small subscription fee for the use of our mobile app.
Furthermore, we aim to expand our product category and introduce new products for the elderly and specially-abled individuals in the future, to diversify our revenue streams.
