Back in May, The Leaders Council reported that Otiom - the world's first medical device that communicates via Narrowband Internet of Things [NB-IoT], designed to prevent people with dementia from becoming lost, is beginning to make a positive impact in the social care sector. Speaking on The Leaders Council Podcast, Stewart Munro, managing director of UK supplier Pentland Medical, told us more about this innovation.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are currently around 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK, a figure which is projected to rise to more than 1.6 million by 2040. Six in every 10 of these people will likely wander at least once in their lives, while many tend to do so repeatedly. Wandering can cause serious risk of harm and the stress caused by wandering people with dementia can adversely affect friends, family and carers, as well as place additional strain on the emergency services.
Otiom works as a unique and discrete tagging device which people with dementia can easily carry. It utilises IoT technology to ensure safe, reliable tracking indoors and outdoors, and enjoys battery life beyond that of many other GPS monitoring devices.
Munro says: “Otiom is basically a discrete tag that can be sewn onto a piece of clothing or be worn on the neck or wherever by the person with dementia. The key thing is that Otiom doesn’t cause any distress. It doesn’t have the flashing lights and noise of GPS devices when operational, and it is actually tracking all the time. It is also robust, so if you sew it onto clothing it’s machine-washable for up to 60 degrees before it becomes damaged.”
Another crucial element of the Otiom system includes the home base, which is placed in the home of the person with dementia. The Otiom tag constantly communicates with the home base via Bluetooth while the person is at home and there are no concerns on their whereabouts.
The final component is the app, which is free to download on iOS or Android and enables an unlimited number of caregivers or relatives to operate the system and track when the person with dementia strays outside the set safe zone. With the app, Otiom can be managed using a smartphone and the safe zone can be set outside the personal home or care facility where the person resides, including surrounding gardens or community areas. If the person leaves the safety zone, an alarm will be triggered and the Otiom-app will show the current location, allowing carers or relatives to quickly attend to them and ensure that safety is maintained.
Munro explains: “The home base is placed strategically throughout the domestic property or a care home or whatever setting the person is in. There’s constant communication but the key element is that the tracking won’t start unless the person with dementia goes outside of the safe boundary, so there’s that autonomy and privacy for the person which is a huge advantage.
“Narrowband Internet of Things is going to be the future for all these types of communication. Even the logistics industry is moving towards that platform. I’ve always found GPS systems to be more general, they're not medical devices. Otiom is actually the world's first registered medical device built for purpose and we are a medical professional company.
“We’ve also been involved on a personal level with the families having issues with dementia-linked wandering and we’re seeing the difference Otiom is making. There’s one elderly couple living on the northern part of the Isle of Skye and the husband has a dementia problem. They live near a cliff so the consequences of wandering could be dangerous. They didn’t have mobile phone access so we got them a smart device, set them up on Otiom for a free trial and all the support they needed, and it’s helped them. They loved the impact of it and our help so much that they’re going to write a testimonial for us.”
Beyond what Otiom can already do, Munro also teased some significant plans for the device’s future which could involve adding extra dimensions to its capabilities.
“We’re speaking to the people in Denmark that first built Otiom and there might be plans to add extra dimensions. The technology is built to be able to upgrade and it can be applied to other areas which is incredibly exciting. Some of the guys continuing to develop Otiom also worked on the development of Bluetooth, which is a Scandinavian invention, so there’s credible people with a tech background involved in this as well and that’s what’s going to be driving the future of this and we’re so excited about its potential. It’s clear that it can go onto even better things.”
Listen to the extended interview with Stewart Munro below, as he discusses Otiom on The Leaders Council Podcast.
Photo by Steven HWG on Unsplash
