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

譯者: Sherry Chen 審譯者: melo li

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

在威脅美國人健康的疾病中， 增速最快的是哪種？

Cancer? Heart attacks? Diabetes?

癌癥？心臟病？糖尿病？

The answer is actually none of these;

其實都不是。

it's Alzheimer's disease.

答案是失智症（阿爾茨海默病）。

Every 67 seconds,

每隔 67 秒，

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

美國就有一人被診斷出患有失智症。

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

而到 2050 年， 失智症患者的數量會翻三倍，

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

照顧這些患者，以及其他老齡人口

will become an overwhelming societal challenge.

將會成為巨大的社會挑戰。

My family has experienced firsthand

我的家庭就有切身體驗，

the struggles of caring for an Alzheimer's patient.

知道照顧失智症患者的辛苦。

Growing up in a family with three generations,

我成長於三代同堂的家庭，

I've always been very close to my grandfather.

從小就跟爺爺非常親近。

When I was four years old,

當我四歲時，

my grandfather and I were walking in a park in Japan

我跟爺爺在公園裡散步，

when he suddenly got lost.

突然間他走失了。

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

這是迄今為止最讓我害怕的回憶之一，

and it was also the first instance that informed us

也是第一次使我們意識到，

that my grandfather had Alzheimer's disease.

爺爺得了失智症。

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

過去 12 年來，他的病情逐漸加重，

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

尤其是他出去遊盪的時候， 全家都會很緊張。

My aunt, his primary caregiver,

姑媽是爺爺的主要看護人，

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

她夜裡硬撐著不敢睡覺， 為了看住爺爺，

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

即使這樣，也經常沒能阻止 爺爺下床。

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

我開始非常擔心姑媽的健康

as well as my grandfather's safety.

和我爺爺的安全。

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

我廣泛搜尋，想要找到一個方法 可以幫助我的家人。

but couldn't find one.

卻都以失敗告終。

Then, one night about two years ago,

後來，兩年前的一個晚上，

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

我在照顧爺爺的時候， 看到他正想要下床，

The moment his foot landed on the floor,

他的腳碰到地面的瞬間，

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

我想到，為何不在他的後腳跟 放個壓力傳感器呢？

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

當他下床著地的時候，

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

傳感器就能檢測到由於爺爺體重 而造成的壓力上漲，

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

並能將警報信號通過無線網路 傳輸到看護人的智能手機。

That way, my aunt could sleep much better at night

這樣一來，我姑媽晚上 就可以睡得更好一些。

without having to worry about my grandfather's wandering.

不用一直擔心爺爺會到處走動。

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

現在我來展示一下 我發明的壓力感應襪子。

Could I please have my sock model on the stage?

能邀請我的襪子模特到臺上來嗎？

Great.

很好。

So once the patient steps onto the floor --

一旦病人的腳著地 ﹣﹣

(Ringing) --

（警報聲）﹣﹣

an alert is sent to the caregiver's smartphone.

警報就會被發送到看護人的智能手機上。

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝。（掌聲）

Thank you, sock model.

謝謝這位模特。

So this is a drawing of my preliminary design.

這就是我初步設計的草圖。

My desire to create a sensor-based technology

我之所以想要創造一個 基於傳感器的技術，

perhaps stemmed from my lifelong love for sensors and technology.

原因可能來自我對傳感器 和相關科技長期以來的熱愛。

When I was six years old,

當我六歲時，

an elderly family friend fell down in the bathroom

家裡有一位長者在浴室跌倒了，

and suffered severe injuries.

並因此傷得很重。

I became concerned about my own grandparents

我開始擔心祖父母的安全，

and decided to invent a smart bathroom system.

並且決心要發明一套智能浴室系統。

Motion sensors would be installed inside the tiles of bathroom floors

運動傳感器將會被嵌入在 浴室的地磚裡面，

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

當老人摔倒在地板上的時候 就能夠檢測到壓力。

Since I was only six years old at the time

當時我才只有6歲，

and I hadn't graduated from kindergarten yet,

幼稚園尚未畢業，

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

沒法獲取所需的資源和工具 來實現我的想法，

but nonetheless, my research experience

儘管如此，我的研究經歷

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

讓我樹立起堅定的信念， 利用傳感器去幫助老人。

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

我堅信傳感器可以提高 老年人的生活質量。

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

當我開始細化我的計劃時， 我意識到我面臨著三大挑戰：

first, creating a sensor;

第一，創造傳感器；

second, designing a circuit;

第二，設計電路；

and third, coding a smartphone app.

第三，寫出手機軟件。

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

這讓我意識到，實現我的計劃 比我一開始想象的要難得多。

than I initially had thought it to be.

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

首先，我需要發明一個可穿戴、 足夠輕薄靈活的傳感器，

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

能讓病人舒適地穿在腳上。

After extensive research and testing of different materials like rubber,

在廣泛地研究和嘗試了許多種材料之後， 比如橡膠，

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

我意識到它們都太厚了， 穿在腳上不夠服帖。

I decided to print a film sensor

我決定打印一個薄膜式傳感器，

with electrically conductive pressure-sensitive ink particles.

使用能感知壓力的電子墨水來構造。

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

一旦產生壓力，墨水粒子之間的 連通性就增加了。

Therefore, I could design a circuit that would measure pressure

因此，我就可以通過測量電阻的方法，

by measuring electrical resistance.

設計測試壓力的電路。

Next, I had to design a wearable wireless circuit,

接下來，我需要設計 可穿戴的無線電路。

but wireless signal transmission consumes lots of power

但是無線信號傳輸非常耗電，

and requires heavy, bulky batteries.

並且需要笨重的電池。

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

所幸我找到了低功耗的藍牙技術，

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

耗电很少，紐扣電池就能夠發動起來。

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

這就避免了系統工作到半夜 就沒電的狀況。

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

最後，我需要自己寫 一款智能手機軟件，

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

它將看護人的智能手機 變成遠程監控器。

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

為此，在 Java 和 XCode 知識的基礎上 我繼續鑽研編程，

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

並自學了如何用代碼 去操縱藍牙低功耗設備，

by watching YouTube tutorials and reading various textbooks.

為此我看了很多的 YouTube 指導視頻 以及翻了很多書。

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

把這些組件拼接起來後， 我成功做出來了兩個原型，

one in which the sensor is embedded inside a sock,

其中一個原型，傳感器被嵌入襪子裡，

and another that's a re-attachable sensor assembly

而另一個，傳感器則是可以拆卸的，

that can be adhered anywhere that makes contact

可以粘在病人腳底

with the bottom of the patient's foot.

任何產生接觸的地方。

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

我在爺爺身上試驗了大約一年，

and it's had a 100 percent success rate

它的準確率高達 100％，

in detecting the over 900 known cases of his wandering.

成功檢測到了我爺爺 超過 900 次的發病情況。

Last summer, I was able to beta test my device

去年夏天，我開始在美國加州的 一些護理院試用這套設備，

at several residential care facilities in California,

and I'm currently incorporating the feedback

目前我正在收集反饋，

to further improve the device into a marketable product.

來進一步完善這個裝置， 使它成為可以進入市場的產品。

Testing the device on a number of patients

在一些病人試用的過程中，

made me realize that I needed to invent solutions

我意識到我需要創新解決方案，

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

來幫助那些不想穿著襪子睡覺的人。

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

從大規模的病人身上 采集到的傳感器數據，

can be useful for improving patient care

不僅對於照顧病人有幫助作用，

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

對於疾病本身的治療也可能會有幫助。

For example, I'm currently examining

例如，我現在在檢測的是

correlations between the frequency of a patient's nightly wandering

病人夜間活動的頻率

and his or her daily activities and diet.

與白天的行為和飲食之間的關聯。

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

我永遠忘不了

my grandfather's wandering out of bed at night.

我的設備第一次成功檢測到 我爺爺半夜下床的時刻。

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

那一刻，我強烈地感受到了 科技的力量，

to change lives for the better.

它能讓生活更加美好。

People living happily and healthfully --

人們可以健康快樂地生活 ﹣﹣

that's the world that I imagine.

那就是我夢想中的世界。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）