TITLE:
An Environmental Control System for ALS Patient Using Finger Movement
AUTHORS:
Chao Zhang, Masatomo Shibata, Keisuke Takashima, Jiangli Yu, Takakazu Ishimatsu, Joel Palomino
KEYWORDS:
Environmental Control, ALS patient, Input Device, Touch Sensor, Pressure Sensor
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Mechanical Engineering,
Vol.5 No.4,
November
11,
2015
ABSTRACT: ALS is a degenerative disease which affects the patients muscular activity in feet and hands, leading to a bed ridden status. The loss of independency affects their will to live, for this reason an environmental control system to handle the home appliances and make telephone calls is proposed. The system uses a tablet as a visual human interface so that the patient can select the desired appliance by selecting the corresponding item on the tablet screen. Based on the remaining patient’s abilities an input device that detects slight finger movement is proposed. In this paper three types of input devices are considered and their performance is evaluated by four ALS patients. Their comments about the usage of the devices are discussed in this work. Finally the environmental control was implemented on an ALS patient home and their impressions were satisfactory for the patients, relatives and care-givers.