DIY-PressMat: A Smart Sensor Mat for Posture Detection Applicable for Bed-exit Intention Detection, Pressure Ulcer Prevention, and Sleep Apnea Mitigation

Abstract

In this research, we present a proof-of-concept Do-It-Yourself (DIY) bed sensor mat that is capable to detect five user postures, including: Supine position, Prone position, Lateral position (left), Lateral position (right), and Sitting. Our prototype incorporates two types of sensors: Pressure Tiles and Capacitive Sensing. To gain an impression on the accuracy, we conducted a study with 11 participants and developed a machine learning model showing accuracy of 85% for an unknown user. In fact, nocturnal postures extend to a third of ones lifetime and therefore, a posture detection can be particularly interesting. Enabled application scenarios include pressure ulcer prevention, bed-exit intention detection, diabetes detection, and sleep apnea mitigation. CCS CONCEPTS• Hardware → Emerging tools and methodologies; • Applied computing → Health care information systems.

Recent Advances and Applications of Textile Technology in Patient Monitoring

“…All these studies were conducted in either a simulated or clinical testing environment. A simulated testing environment typically relates to the supervisor instructing the subject to lie in specific postures for a short period of time (less than 1 h), which can be seen in [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Contrastingly, a clinical testing environment allows the subject to alter their body position for their comfort for a minimum of 1 h. However, typically this study is conducted overnight for a minimum of 7 h, which can be seen in [31][32][33][34].…”

Human Posture Estimation: A Systematic Review on Force-Based Methods—Analyzing the Differences in Required Expertise and Result Benefits for Their Utilization

“…The most commonly applied hardware sensors are thin film sensors that measure piezoresistive [13,16,34,35] or capacitive principles [15]. The sandwich structure of piezoresistive sensors consists of a top and bottom copper layer connected by a piezoresistive material (see Figure 4) [33].…”

“…The sandwich structure of film pressure sensors consists of a top and bottom copper layer connected by a piezoresistive material (see Figure 4) [33]. The most commonly applied hardware sensors are thin film sensors that measure piezoresistive [13,16,34,35] or capacitive principles [15]. The sandwich structure of piezoresistive sensors consists of a top and bottom copper layer connected by a piezoresistive material (see Figure 4) [33].…”

“…They are mostly made of a pressure-sensitive film known by the brand names VELOSTAT (3M Company, St. Paul, MN, USA) and LINQSTAT (CAPLINQ Corporation, Ottawa, ON, Canada). Alternatives are offered by Matthies et al [15], who developed their own capacitive sensors for a smart mattress, and by Milovic et al [43], with their research on textile sensors, as shown in Figure 5. of sensor matrixes is their ability to measure the force at multiple positions over On the other hand, the acquisition technology is more complicated for matrix se for single-point sensors.…”

“…However, in recent years, non-camera-based sensors have also emerged as valuable alternatives for human posture estimation [11][12][13]. Noncamera-based sensors can offer advantages in terms of flexibility and portability as well as cost-efficiency [14][15][16].…”