Implementation of a miniaturised activity monitor to support convalescence

Lack of exercise is a rising and wide spread problem. The convalescence of diseases like obesity, cardiac insufficiency, diabetes and bone healing are addicted to a controlled dose of the patient's activity. Activity monitoring means the continuous recording of a person's acceleration data. This method is gaining more importance for the treatment of these diseases especially considering their optimized convalescence. This article describes a activity monitor that consists of a three-axial acceleration sensor, a microcontroller and an integrated flash memory. Furthermore a USB interface allows an easy connection to a computer and a PC-software and a LED bar allows a feedback and status indication. The device is easy to handle without the need for the patient's interaction. The miniaturized high-resolution activity monitor - that can be worn e.g. on a key bunch - records continuously the acceleration data for up to more than two months and supports first analyzing algorithms to give a direct feedback about the actual and/or the past activity. The PC software allows an easy illustration of the patient's activity profile over a longer period of time. Physicians can analyze this profile and adjust special parameters in the monitor's algorithms to advance the treatment of the patient's disease. In case of obesity special activity patterns that the patient has to fulfill can be predefined. The patient has to perform a special amount of activity during the day until a feedback signalizes a fulfillment. The predefined values will be raised slightly with every new day. In addition the possibility to connect the monitor to Telemetric Personal Health Monitoring (TPHM) Systems offers a wide range of further methods of treatment without regularly visits at the physician's office. Storing the patients' acceleration data in a database helps to optimize future methods.