Friends of Andrew Morris needed a device that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
After trying unsuccessfully to create a device that could detect the characteristics of the victim's groan, Andrew remembered an answering machine -- from 30 years ago -- that could detect gaps and brief interruptions in the audio that helped the machine detect the difference between a dial tone and a human voice. So Andrew designed a circuit to do just that, thus giving the stroke victim the voice to call for assistance.
Click the image below to see more of the gadget.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed. Here is the receiver unit.
The beauty of this design is that it does not have to be tuned to the voice of any particular patient. It can be mass-produced or passed along from one patient to another. In a nursing home, you could have multiple transmitters and one central receiver, which would display the source of the signal, telling the nurse which patient required attention.
Also, the hardware is very simple, and the software could easily be rewritten in whatever language, or for whatever microcontroller the builder is comfortable with.
Nice work, Andrew. It seems feature rich without being too complicated to use. I like the wireless transmission between detector and receiver, and the flashing indicator to alert when mute is on, and the confirmation the patient gets letting him/her know the call is sent. The mute feature could be helpful when the patient has visitors in the room.
I wonder if any readers know of specific fail-safe features that would be required for nursing homes such as mic connections, power supplies, etc.
That is an excellent question. I know nothing about the requirements for medical electronics. I'm certain though, that the gadget could be modified to meet those requirements.
The mute button only prevents the receiver from being activated for 10 minutes, or until it's unmuted. It doesn't have any effect on privacy. The device has been designed so that people talking in the patient's room will not trigger it unless they are close to the microphone and make a continuous sound for 1.5 seconds.
I sent the groan detector system to the lady that I built it for and she is thrilled with it. Her husband especially likes that the transmitter beeps when it's triggered, which tells him that someone will be coming to help him.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
30 
