System and method for the inference of activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living automatically

A computerized system for automatically inferring answers to questions of clinical functional assessment instruments activities of daily living (ADLs), and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), said system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors including at least a humidity sensor, a first presence sensor, a temperature sensor and a second presence sensor;
• and
• a processor programmed to:
• a) date and time stamp sensors' firings;
• and
• b) apply a set of rules that examine and analyze spatial-temporal relationships of multiple sensors' firings to automatically infer the occurrence of activities of interest of a human subject,
• wherein said rules include at least the following:
• a rule that infers bathing/showering of the subject based on time and firings from at least the humidity sensor and the first presence sensor;
• and
• a rule that infers the ability of the subject to prepare cooked meals based on time and firings from at least the temperature sensor and the second presence sensor, and
• wherein said spatial-temporal relationships are defined as sequences of said multiple sensors' firings and locations of said multiple sensors,
• wherein the rule that infers bathing/showering of the subject is configured to discriminate between bathing/showering of the subject and other acts associated with increased humidity in the bathroom, and
• wherein the inference that the subject has engaged in the activity of interest includes an inference as to whether the subject has engaged in the activity of interest without assistance from another person based on a historical analysis of motion detected prior to the activity of interest in a plurality of locations.

A computer program product comprising computer readable medium having computer program logic that causes at least one processor in a computer system to automatically derive answers to questions of clinical functional assessment instruments activities of daily living (ADLs), and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), said computer logic comprising instructions for:

• date and time stamping sensors' firings from a plurality of sensors;
• and
• applying a set of rules that examine and analyze spatial-temporal relationships of multiple sensors' firings to automatically infer the occurrence of activities of interest of a human subject,
• wherein said rules include at least the following:
• a rule that infers bathing/showering of the subject based on time and firings from at least a humidity sensor and a presence sensor;
• and
• a rule that infers the ability of the subject to prepare cooked meals based on time and firings from at least a temperature sensor and a presence sensor, and
• wherein said spatial-temporal relationships are defined as sequences of said multiple sensors firings and locations of said multiple sensors,
• wherein the rule that infers bathing/showering of the subject is configured to discriminate between bathing/showering of the subject and other acts associated with increased humidity in the bathroom, and
• wherein the inference that the subject has engaged in the activity of interest includes an inference as to whether the subject has engaged in the activity of interest without assistance from another person based on a historical analysis of motion detected prior to the activity of interest in a plurality of locations.

An automated method of inferring an activity of daily living of a human subject, the method comprising:

• collecting one or more readings from each of a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors including at least a humidity sensor and a presence sensor;
• storing a log of the readings in a storage unit;
• analyzing, by a computer processor, the stored log of readings, the analysis including making an automated inference that the subject has engaged in a predetermined activity of daily living based on a logical operation that includes consideration of at least:
• a reading of the humidity sensor meeting a first criteria;
• and
• a reading of the presence sensor meeting a second criteria,
• wherein:
• the activity of daily living is a bathing/showering event of the subject;
• the logical operation is configured to discriminate between bathing/showering of the subject and other acts associated with increased humidity in the bathroom;
• a predetermined time of activity is set beginning when the presence of the subject is detected in a bathing area;
• the first criteria is at least one of a predetermined level of humidity and a predetermined change of humidity over time during the time of the activity;
• the second criteria is a presence of the subject at a predetermined location within the bathing area;
• and
• the logical operation further includes consideration of:
• whether a time during which the subject was in the bathing area, excluding any time that the subject was in the predetermined location, is equal to or greater than the predetermined time of activity.