Kenneth Shinozuka: My simple invention, designed to keep my grandfather safe

翻译人员: Wei Wu 校对人员: XIE Qing

What's the fastest growing threat to Americans' health?

威胁美国人健康的疾病中，上升速度最快的是哪一种？

Cancer? Heart attacks? Diabetes?

癌症？心脏病？糖尿病？

The answer is actually none of these;

实际上都不是

it's Alzheimer's disease.

（上升最快的）是老年痴呆症（即阿尔茨海默氏病）

Every 67 seconds,

每隔67秒

someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

美国就有一人被诊断出患有该疾病

As the number of Alzheimer's patients triples by the year 2050,

老年痴呆患者的数量到2050年会翻三倍

caring for them, as well as the rest of the aging population,

照顾这些患者，以及其他老龄人口

will become an overwhelming societal challenge.

将会变成一个非常大的社会挑战

My family has experienced firsthand

我的家庭有着切身的体验

the struggles of caring for an Alzheimer's patient.

知道照顾一名老年痴呆患者的辛苦

Growing up in a family with three generations,

我成长在一个三代同堂的家庭

I've always been very close to my grandfather.

从小就跟自己的爷爷非常亲近

When I was four years old,

当我四岁的时候

my grandfather and I were walking in a park in Japan

我跟爷爷在公园里散步

when he suddenly got lost.

然后他突然失踪了

It was one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced in my life,

这是迄今为止最让我害怕的回忆之一

and it was also the first instance that informed us

这也第一次使我们意识到

that my grandfather had Alzheimer's disease.

爷爷得了老年痴呆

Over the past 12 years, his condition got worse and worse,

过去12年来，他的病情一点一点加重了

and his wandering in particular caused my family a lot of stress.

尤其是他出去游荡的时候，全家都会很紧张（他失踪）

My aunt, his primary caregiver,

我姑妈，主要是她照顾着爷爷

really struggled to stay awake at night to keep an eye on him,

夜里硬撑着不敢睡觉，为了留心爷爷的状况

and even then often failed to catch him leaving the bed.

即使这样，也不能阻止爷爷半夜下床（乱走动）

I became really concerned about my aunt's well-being

我变得很关心姑妈的健康

as well as my grandfather's safety.

和我爷爷的安全

I searched extensively for a solution that could help my family's problems,

我大范围的搜寻为了找到一个可以帮到我家庭的方法

but couldn't find one.

却以失败告终

Then, one night about two years ago,

后来，两年前的一个晚上

I was looking after my grandfather and I saw him stepping out of the bed.

我在照顾爷爷的时候，看到他正想要下床

The moment his foot landed on the floor,

他的脚碰到地面的瞬间

I thought, why don't I put a pressure sensor on the heel of his foot?

我想到，为什么不在他的后脚跟放个压力传感器呢？

Once he stepped onto the floor and out of the bed,

当他下床着地的时候

the pressure sensor would detect an increase in pressure caused by body weight

传感器就能检测到由于爷爷体重造成的一股上升的压力

and then wirelessly send an audible alert to the caregiver's smartphone.

并能无线传输警报信号给看护人的手机

That way, my aunt could sleep much better at night

这样一来，我姑妈晚上就可以睡得更好一些

without having to worry about my grandfather's wandering.

不用一直瞪大眼睛提防爷爷到处走动

So now I'd like to perform a demonstration of this sock.

现在我来展示一下我发明的（压力感应的）袜子

Could I please have my sock model on the stage?

能邀请我的（袜子展示）模特到台上来吗？

Great.

太棒了

So once the patient steps onto the floor --

一旦病人的脚着地

(Ringing) --

（警报声）

an alert is sent to the caregiver's smartphone.

警报就会被发送到看护人的手机

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢 （掌声）

Thank you, sock model.

谢谢我的模特

So this is a drawing of my preliminary design.

这就是我这个想法一开始的草图

My desire to create a sensor-based technology

我之所以想要创造一个基于传感器的技术

perhaps stemmed from my lifelong love for sensors and technology.

原因可能来自我对传感器和相关科技的热爱

When I was six years old,

当我六岁的时候

an elderly family friend fell down in the bathroom

家里一位年长的亲戚在浴室摔倒了

and suffered severe injuries.

伤得很重

I became concerned about my own grandparents

我开始关注自己的祖父母（的安全）

and decided to invent a smart bathroom system.

并决定设计一套智能浴室系统

Motion sensors would be installed inside the tiles of bathroom floors

运动传感器将会被嵌入浴室的地砖里面

to detect the falls of elderly patients whenever they fell down in the bathroom.

当老人摔倒在地板上的时候就能够探测到

Since I was only six years old at the time

当时我才只有6岁

and I hadn't graduated from kindergarten yet,

幼儿园都没有毕业

I didn't have the necessary resources and tools to translate my idea into reality,

我没法获取所需的资源和工具来实现我的想法

but nonetheless, my research experience

但是，我的研究经历

really implanted in me a firm desire to use sensors to help the elderly people.

让我建立起坚定的信念，用传感器去帮助老人

I really believe that sensors can improve the quality of life of the elderly.

我坚信传感器可以提高老年人的生活质量

When I laid out my plan, I realized that I faced three main challenges:

当我开始细化我的计划时，我意识到我面临三大挑战

first, creating a sensor;

第一，创造一个传感器

second, designing a circuit;

第二，设计电路

and third, coding a smartphone app.

第三，写出一个手机App

This made me realize that my project was actually much harder to realize

这让我意识到我的计划比我一开始想象的

than I initially had thought it to be.

要难的多

First, I had to create a wearable sensor that was thin and flexible enough

首先，我需要发明一个可穿戴的传感器，足够轻薄灵活

to be worn comfortably on the bottom of the patient's foot.

要能够舒适的穿在病人的脚上。

After extensive research and testing of different materials like rubber,

在调研和尝试了许多种材料之后，我意识到

which I realized was too thick to be worn snugly on the bottom of the foot,

橡胶之类的材料太厚了穿在脚上不服帖

我决定打印一个薄膜式传感器

I decided to print a film sensor

with electrically conductive pressure-sensitive ink particles.

使用能感知压力的电子墨水来构造。

Once pressure is applied, the connectivity between the particles increases.

一旦产生压力，墨水粒子之间连通性就增加了

Therefore, I could design a circuit that would measure pressure

这样我就可以设计一个测试压力的电路

通过测量电阻

by measuring electrical resistance.

Next, I had to design a wearable wireless circuit,

接下来，我需要设计一个可穿戴的无线电路

but wireless signal transmission consumes lots of power

但是无线信号传输非常耗电

and requires heavy, bulky batteries.

并且需要笨重的电池

Thankfully, I was able to find out about the Bluetooth low energy technology,

谢天谢地，我找到了低功耗的蓝牙技术

which consumes very little power and can be driven by a coin-sized battery.

功耗很低，纽扣电池就能够带动起来

This prevented the system from dying in the middle of the night.

这就避免了系统工作到半夜就没电的尴尬

Lastly, I had to code a smartphone app that would essentially transform

最后，我需要自己写一个智能手机App

the care-giver's smartphone into a remote monitor.

它将看护人的手机变成一个远程监控器

For this, I had to expand upon my knowledge of coding with Java and XCode

为此，我需要在Java和XCode基础上继续探索

and I also had to learn about how to code for Bluetooth low energy devices

并自学了如何用代码去操纵蓝牙低功耗设备

by watching YouTube tutorials and reading various textbooks.

为此我看了很多的YouTube视频，翻了很多书

Integrating these components, I was able to successfully create two prototypes,

把这些组件拼接起来，我成功的做出来了两个原型

one in which the sensor is embedded inside a sock,

其中一个原型，传感器被嵌入袜子里

and another that's a re-attachable sensor assembly

另一个原型，传感器是可以拆卸的

that can be adhered anywhere that makes contact

可以粘在病人脚底

with the bottom of the patient's foot.

任何产生接触的地方

I've tested the device on my grandfather for about a year now,

我给爷爷试验了一年的时间

and it's had a 100 percent success rate

它拥有百分之百的准确率

in detecting the over 900 known cases of his wandering.

成功捕获了爷爷超过900次的发病情况

Last summer, I was able to beta test my device

去年夏天，我开始在美国加州的

at several residential care facilities in California,

一些护理院试用这套设备

and I'm currently incorporating the feedback

目前我正在收集反馈

to further improve the device into a marketable product.

后续会将这个设备完善成一个可以进入市场的产品

Testing the device on a number of patients

在病人实际试用的过程中

made me realize that I needed to invent solutions

我意识到我需要创新解决方案

for people who didn't want to wear socks to sleep at night.

因为有些人晚上睡觉是不习惯穿袜子的

So sensor data, collected on a vast number of patients,

从大规模的病人身上采集到的传感器数据

can be useful for improving patient care

不仅对于照顾病人有帮助作用

and also leading to a cure for the disease, possibly.

对于疾病本身的治疗也可能会有帮助

For example, I'm currently examining

例如，我现在在检测的

correlations between the frequency of a patient's nightly wandering

是尝试发现病人夜间活动与饮食

and his or her daily activities and diet.

以及白天的行为之间的关联

One thing I'll never forget is when my device first caught

我永远忘不了我的设备第一次成功地

my grandfather's wandering out of bed at night.

捕获出我爷爷半夜下床的时刻

At that moment, I was really struck by the power of technology

那一刻我强烈的感受到了科技的力量

to change lives for the better.

让生活更美好的力量

People living happily and healthfully --

人们可以健康快乐的生活

that's the world that I imagine.

这是我的梦想

Thank you very much.

非常感谢

(Applause)

（掌声）