They are artificial intelligence-powered, can be put in for a spin in the washing machine, and don’t need batteries. These are things we thought we’d never say about socks but can be said about Milbotix’s SmartSocks.
They are medical socks that can detect distress in people living with autism and dementia. The SmartSocks are specially for use in either care homes or in people’s own homes where they may not be surrounded by primary caretakers all the time.
“The SmartSocks developed by Milbotix appear to be the most suitable type of smart wearable available as they are more tolerable and potentially less stigmatizing than a wristband or other types of wearable,” said Jacqui Arnold, Head of Customer Experience at Milbotix.
Successful trials across the UK
And now the SmartSocks will undergo a trial in the care homes of the southwest England county of Dorset, according to a report. The socks, lined with sensors, are paired with an app on a mobile device. The sensors collect physiological information from the wearer’s ankle and send it to the app. This data is transferred to a cloud platform where machine learning algorithms process the information.
Sophisticated algorithms, whose patent is pending, then estimate the likelihood of whether the person wearing the SmartSocks is experiencing distress. When the AI software detects any anomaly, it alerts about the distress through the app. The care team then can intervene and take the necessary steps.
Dorset is one of the few areas which will be trialing the socks. Care homes overseen by Southern Healthcare, including The Old Rectory in Exeter, have tested the socks on patients, who report they are happy with how easy the socks are to use, as per a report.
BBC interviewed Mr Piper, who has dementia and who has lived in The Old Rectory since November 2022, and said he did not mind being a guinea pig. "Anything that's simple and easy to do, and is improving our look at life as a whole, I'm happy with," he said.
SmartSocks will be released in 2024 after funding is allocated under the Digitising Social Care program.
1 in 11 senior English citizens have dementia
According to the National Health Service (NHS), there are over 944,000 people in the UK who have dementia. One in 11 people over the age of 65 have dementia in the UK, and this number is only increasing with the rise in life expectancy. NHS estimates that by 2030, the number of people with dementia in the UK will be more than 1 million.
The inventor of SmartSocks came up with the idea when he witnessed his grandmother’s dementia journey, during which she became anxious and aggressive. Dr. Zeke Steer, CEO of Milbotix, said, “The current product is the result of extensive research, consultation, and development.”
“So far SmartSocks™ have been incredibly well-received in care settings, and I’m excited to see what impact our products can have in providing early alerts of agitation and falls, enabling care home staff to take early intervention, and support people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible,” added Dr. Steer.
Originally published on Interesting Engineering : Original article