About the Project

Last Updated on Friday, 05 March 2010 18:34 Written by MNK Boulos Saturday, 27 June 2009 00:00

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Europe is facing major socio-demographic changes. The ratio of elderly people to the entire population is constantly growing, while the corresponding ratios of younger age groups, especially the working population, are decreasing. Furthermore, ageing combined with an increasing burden of chronic, concurrent diseases threatens to make the current models of healthcare unsustainable. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), as a specific user-oriented type of “Ambient Intelligence”, may greatly help in this situation.

eCAALYX—Enhanced Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment (June 2009 - May 2012) is a three-year project funded by the European Commission under the AAL Joint Programme (Strategic Objectives addressed: ICT-based Solutions for Prevention and Management of Chronic Conditions of Elderly People). The project builds on the strengths of the infrastructure and functionality already developed in the original CAALYX project (2007/2008).

Edited by: M.N.K. Boulos


eCAALYX’s objectives can be summarised as follows:

  • Health monitoring of older and elderly persons with multiple chronic conditions, at home and on the move (the original CAALYX did not cover the health monitoring and management of older people with comorbidity).
  • Improve the quality of life of elderly persons by increasing their freedom and safety. This is achieved by promptly detecting and controlling any decompensation episodes, so that their independent life at home can be extended and their hospitalisation or admission in nursing homes are avoided for longer periods. Besides improving the elderly person’s quality of life, this approach will also result in various cost reductions and in relieving some of the growing burden on acute care/healthcare systems.
  • Prevent deterioration of the patient condition by providing continuous support, guidance, and relevant health education (the original CAALYX did not have such strong home-based components for the delivery of education on leading a healthy lifestyle).
  • Achieve all of the above goals by providing a solution that is commercially viable, acceptable by all users/stakeholders, reliable, long-term, flexible, scalable, and virtually maintenance-free in non-technical environments, thus suitable for real-world deployment.

Franhofer's STB++ in eCAALYX Home System: Multi Play Set Top Box System for Target Group Specific Content Delivery

eCAALYX will allow comprehensive and coordinated global management by different clinicians of patients suffering from comorbidity, resulting in a much more efficient and effective treatment. Practical deployment aspects such as remote management and auto-configuration mechanisms will also be developed such that long-term large-scale deployment is possible with reduced operating costs. Another novel feature in eCAALYX is the use of smart garments. These are comfortable washable garments with specialised conductive areas that can, for example, function as heart rate/ECG (electrocardiogram) electrodes when in contact with the skin. Finally, eCAALYX will be easily integrable into the contemporary technological infrastructure of most European network operators and homes, and will also be available when users visit their second homes, e.g., while on holidays in Southern Europe or during extended stays with relatives living in different locations, including in other European countries than the person’s home country.

You can learn more about eCAALYX by browsing the content of this site, including the project’s introductory presentation.

 

Participants’ Web sites:

Edited by: M.N.K. Boulos