Simple Wearables have developed a wearable device that can save older people.

The sudden death of a grandmother last year made an indelible impression on Angelo Umali, co-founder and director of Simple Wearables , a Hong Kong-based technology company that develops technologies for the healthcare industry. For him, it became the goal of life to bring a wearable device to the market that sends an alarm signal, which informs you that an elderly person has fallen, and even reports the severity of the fall.

Humali says that his grandmother was not the first to have a case of such a fall. “But this time we were there and saw everything ourselves. She fell, but quickly rose, assuring that everything was in order. However, after a few days, she began to complain of dizziness. We took her to the hospital, and doctors discovered a blood clot in the brain. On the same day, the grandmother fell into a coma and later died. I do not want this to happen to my second grandmother. "

The invention of Humali, Simple Wave, resembles a flat stone that should be attached to the chest. This icon can send an alarm not only to family members, but also to the doctor on duty.
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According to preliminary calculations, the device will cost $ 150-200, plus a monthly payment of a wireless access provider.

Angelo Humali was born in the Philippines, finished school there, after which his family immigrated to the United States, where he enrolled in an American university and received a master's degree in electronic engineering.

Similar to health applications

The functions of Simple Wave are similar to the work of health monitoring applications on smartphones that track the number of steps and movements. But this device is more sensitive and can detect cases of falling both due to loss of consciousness (for example, in case of diabetes or heart attack), and in the event that a person stumbles or slips.

The device also measures the impact force when falling and automatically sends a message to the specified email addresses. The device is equipped with a micro-SIM and a small microphone, so it allows you to contact someone from your family if necessary.

Compared to other similar signaling devices in the US, Simple Wave has a simple design and small size and does not require additional devices, which simplifies its use.

The fear of re-falling causes older people to limit their movement, which leads to loss of fitness and deterioration of their health, according to the authors of the gerontological journal published at Oxford University.

Start-up capital

Due to its uniqueness and competitiveness, the invention attracted the attention of the Hong Kong venture enterprise Nest, as well as one of the largest insurance companies in Asia - AIA Group Ltd. In the past, the latter launched the AIA Accelerator project, whose goal was to support innovative inventions in the field of healthcare and wearable technology, while Nest provides seed capital for start-up companies in Asia.



Now Umali is negotiating with the Philippine Medical Center Medical City, who agreed to take part in testing the first hundred devices.

“Hospitals offer more and more distance services. Data from Simple Wave will be transferred to the cloud, after which it can be accessed using any computer or phone with an Internet connection. We are already developing the corresponding application, ”Umali says.

"We are proud that our compatriot is developing such useful and innovative medical devices with the support of our parent company," said Jaime Jose Javier, marketing director for Philam Life, AIA's subsidiary in the Philippines.

According to the Asian Development Bank, it is predicted that by 2050 the number of elderly people in this part of the world will reach almost 923 million people and in a few decades Asia can become the oldest region in the world.

A similar trend is observed, in particular, in the Philippines. In 2000, there were only 4.6 million people over the age of 60, representing 6% of the total population. In 2010, their number increased to 6.5 million (6.9% of the population) and, according to forecasts of the National Statistics Agency, by 2030 the share of the elderly will be 11.5% of the total population of the country.

Fair fall

A simple fall can be relatively harmless, and can lead to serious consequences, injuries and even death. This opinion was expressed by the authors of a study published in the Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infectionand Critical Care in 2010.

According to the study, people over 70 years are more prone to serious injuries as a result of falls compared with those who have not yet reached this age. In addition, the probability of death as a result of such cases is 3 times higher.

The serious consequences of a fall, which require immediate action, include craniocerebral injuries, which can cause loss of consciousness, amnesia, loss of motor function, coma, and even death.