Bedini R, Palagi G, Belardinelli A, Ripoli A, Franchi D, Deganello P ++, Macellari V +.
CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Via P. Savi 8, 56100, Pisa, Italy.
+ Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
++ ISIA, Firenze.

The available telematics technologies allow the development of telemetric surveillance systems, increasing the quality of the life of people and reducing the costs for the Health System, bringing the care from the hospital to the patient home. The increasing ageing of the world population has focused the attention on the elderly problems. Instability and fallings represent for elderly an high risk of functional losses. The detection of the original disturbances causing the fall is not generally easy, depending on both the multi-pathologic status and on the eventually associated cognitive deficit, often presented by this kind of subjects. In order to obtain a clear picture of physio-pathologic status of the elderly, eventually driving a correct rehabiltation training, we developed a telemetric system for the elderly affected by motor disability. The system

is composed by a terminal, really "worn" by the patient, constituted by a microprocessor-based datalogger, connected and on-line and/or off-line controlled by a central specialistic station. The connection is accomplished by telephone line and GSM; assuring the maximum diffusion and expandability of the service. Particularly, GSM technology allows three basic operations: the telemonitoring of all the necessary biosignals (electrocardigram included), because of the intrinsic channel bandwidth and noise figure; the home surveillance of the subject.

To investigate the postural and the cardiovascular conditions of the patient, the telemetric system may acquire the accelerations of arms and legs, the angles between body segments, the electrocardiogram and the blood oxygen saturation. The oxygen saturation is acquired by means of an ad hoc developed system.