This application relates to care apparatus and systems, in particular, to apparatus and systems for the care of humans, including looking after the wellbeing of such humans and assisting in their day to day existence.

It is well known that with the changing demographics of the human population there are an increasing number of people who, for various reasons, need care or assistance in their day to day existence. Such people may need care or assistance for many reasons including, but not being limited to, neurological, physical, psychological or emotional illness, physical, cognitive or learning disability, degenerative conditions such as dementia (including but not limited to Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or dementia with Lewy bodies), other disorders, or old age.

People in need of care or assistance are typically cared for or assisted by one or more other people. Those carers/assistants may be family members, friends, or paid care providers. The provision of human assistance to a person in need of care or assistance is expensive in financial terms if the provider of the care or assistance is paid, and / or in terms of the time that the carer/assistant needs to dedicate to caring if the carer is unpaid, for example, a spouse, family member or friend. Further, if the carer is, for example, a spouse, family member or friend, the provision of care to a person in need of care or assistance can be detrimental to the carer's quality of life and / or ability to earn a living.

The fiscal or other expense of provision of care to a person in need of care or assistance can be substantially increased if the person in need of care or assistance needs such care or assistance on a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week basis. For those in need of care or assistance such round the clock care needs are typical. As the number of people who require care or assistance increases, the number of people required to provide that care or assistance will likewise increase. The level or amount of care or assistance of that a person in need of care or assistance will require will vary from person to person. Many people in need of care and assistance can remain in their home if suitable care can be provided to them. It is often desirable that persons in need of care or assistance remain in their own home or in an environment they know because it can lead to greater wellbeing and less distress for that person than being placed in a care home or the like. Further, for many people in need of care or assistance, the reason for their need for care is not one that is life immanently threatening, assuming suitable care is provided, and as such they may be expected to require care over a period of many years.

According to the present invention there is provided care apparatus comprising a control hub, one or more data acquisition or input devices adapted to feed data concerning a person in need of care or assistance and / or the environment in which they are located to the control hub, one or more data broadcast devices adapted to broadcast data provided by the control hub to the person in need of care or assistance and / or one or more remote recipients, a data store adapted to store the data provided to the control hub by the or each data acquisition or input device, and a data analysis unit, in which

the data analysis unit is adapted and programmed to analyse at least a part of the data fed to the control hub by one or more of the data acquisition or input devices in real time or near real time,

the data analysis unit is also adapted and programmed to perform comparative analysis on at least part of the data provided to the control hub by one or more of the data acquisition or input devices and the data stored in the data store, and the control hub on receiving the results of the analysis by the data analysis unit determines what data should be broadcast to the person in need of care or assistance and / or one or more remote recipients. The care apparatus may further comprise one or more control means that may be actuated by the control hub and which are adapted to control one or more devices or mechanisms in the environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located. The data acquisition device or devices are preferably adapted to cumulatively gather data about a number of different aspects of the environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located and / or about the person in need of care or assistance. Each data acquisition device may be adapted to gather data on one or more aspects of the environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located and / or about the person in need of care or assistance.

When a data acquisition device is adapted to gather data about the environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located, then the data gathered may relate to the temperature, humidity, presence or absence of smoke and or carbon monoxide in the atmosphere of the environment, light levels and/or sound levels within that environment. The data may further relate to whether the windows and doors in that environment are open or closed, the location of furniture or other objects, or the location and number of people within that environment. The data gathered may further include still or moving images of part or all of the environment. It will be appreciated that data concerning other aspects of the environment may be desirable and that suitable data acquisition devices may be provided to gather such data. Such other devices also fall within the scope of the present invention.

The environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located may be the inside of a building such as a house or flat, a building and it's immediate surroundings such as a house and garden, or a part of a building such as one or more rooms within a house, flat, care home, hospital or the like.

When a data acquisition device is adapted to gather data about the person in need of care or assistance, the data gathered may include the person's location, temperature, activity level, or orientation relative to the environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located, and / or posture, seated posture and / or deportment (that is the body shape both when standing and sitting) of that person.

The data acquired concerning the person in need of care or assistance can, in the short term, be very important for ensuring that if that person needs immediate assistance, the care system of the present invention can alert a suitable recipient of such an alert that immediate assistance is required.

For example, if the data gathered by the data acquisition device relates to the orientation of the person in need of care or assistance within the environment in which they are located, and that data shows that that person is lying on the floor in a kitchen, then it is likely that that person needs immediate care or assistance. If that same person is lying on a bed or a sofa, then the likelihood of that person needing immediate assistance is significantly lower. In this context, short term refers to time periods of about a day or shorter periods, for example about 12 hours, about 1 1 hours, about 10 hours, about 9 hours, about 8 hours, about 7 hours, about 6 hours, about 5 hours, about 5 hours, about 4 hours, about 3 hours, about 2 hours, about 1 hour.

An alternative example, and one particularly relevant to sufferers of degenerative conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer's, is that if data concerning the location of that person is gathered, then if they move out of a certain predetermined area, the care system of the present invention can alert a suitable recipient of such an alert of that movement. In the medium or longer term, the data acquired concerning the person in need of care or assistance can be important for monitoring and ensuring the medium or long term health of the person in need of care or assistance. For example, in the medium term a physiological or behavioural change in a person in need of care or assistance may reflect a change in health such as the acquisition of an infection, e.g. a person with a urinary tract infection tends to be more active or agitated than normal. In such a circumstance the care apparatus of the present invention can alert a suitable recipient of such an alert that the person may need medical aid.

In the longer term, a physiological or behavioural change in a person in need of care or assistance may reflect a change in the underlying condition of that person and the care apparatus of the present invention can alert a suitable recipient of such an alert that the level and / or nature of the care and assistance provided to that person may need to be reviewed and altered.

At least one data input device of the present invention is preferably adapted to allow a user to input data into the care apparatus of the present invention. The user may be the person in need of care or assistance or may be a third party such as a carer. Such a data input device can be used to enter instructions to the control hub, to confirm that one or more actions have been taken or to respond to an enquiry from the control hub, or as a means for recording data. When the data input device is used to enter instructions to the control hub, those instructions can be for the control of audio visual equipment, the opening or closing of curtains or blinds, the control of central heating systems and the like, control of a telephone, or the control of other devices or equipment located in the environment in which the person in need of care or assistance is located. It will be appreciated that control of other devices and mechanisms may be desirable, and the control of such other devices and mechanisms also falls within the scope of the present invention. When the data input device is used to confirm that one or more actions have been taken, that confirmation can be made in response to an enquiry or instruction from the control hub via a data broadcast device. For example, and without limitation to the scope of the present invention, the control hub can remind a person in need of care or assistance that they need to take some medication, eat or drink, and ask that person to push a particular button on the data input device to confirm having performed the task that they have been reminded of..

When the data input device is used as a means for recording data, this may be, for example and without limitation, the arrival time and departure time of a carer who is visiting the person in need of care or assistance, details of medicines administered, or other data relating to the care of the person cared for.

The or at least one data input devices may be comprised of a keyboard, one or more buttons with dedicated meanings, a display screen and one or more soft buttons, a touch sensitive screen, or a microphone for oral instruction.

The data store may be a means for storage of digital data. In some embodiments of the present invention the data store is a physical data storage means, for example a hard drive. In other embodiments, the data store may be a virtual data store such as a cloud storage.

The data analysis unit of the care apparatus of the present invention is adapted to analyse at least a part of the data fed to the control hub by one or more of the data acquisition or input devices in real time or near real time. This real time or near real time analysis is necessary to optimize the short term safety, wellbeing and / or comfort of the person in need of care or assistance. In particular, such an analysis can determine whether the person in need of care or assistance is in need of immediate assistance, whether changes need to be made to the environment that that person occupies, or whether a device or piece of equipment needs to be controlled by the control hub.

The data analysis device may be programed to analyse the data fed to the control hub by one data acquisition device in the context of data fed to the control hub by one or more other data acquisition devices. Such an analysis may, for example, be the analysis of a feature of the person in need of care or assistance in the context of where in the environment that person is located. Other contextual analysis' may be made and fall within the scope of the present invention.

The analysis that the data analysis unit performs on at least a part of the data fed to the control hub by the or each data acquisition or input device may include the steps of identifying the data acquisition or input device or devices from which the data or input originated, comparison of the data with one or more predetermined criteria or values associated with the identified data acquisition device or devices, and sending an instruction to the control hub where the nature of said instruction is determined by the output of the comparison. By way of a simple example, if the data acquisition or input device is a thermometer, the data received from the thermometer will be the temperature at the position where the temperature is measured by the thermometer. The data analysis unit would then compare the temperature measured with predetermined minimum and maximum temperatures held in the data store. If the measured temperature is lower than the predetermined minimum then the control unit will receive an instruction to turn a heating system on, and if the measured temperature is higher than the predetermined maximum then the control unit will receive an instruction to turn a heating system off. By way of a second example, if a pair of data acquisition or input devices are adapted on the one hand to identify the body shape and orientation of the person in need of care or assistance relative to the environment in which that person is located, and on the other hand to identify the location of that person within the environment, then the data analysis device can identify where the person is and select data relating to the persons expected body shape and or orientation in that location. That selected data can then be compared to the data received from the data acquisition device adapted to identify the body shape and orientation of the person to determine whether the posture and orientation of the person are as expected. If they are not, then the data analysis unit can send an instruction to the control unit to send an alert to a suitable recipient for such an alert. That recipient can either check on the person themselves or arrange for such a check to be made.

By way of a third example, if the data acquisition or input device is adapted to control a device containing pre-recorded music, a music player, then the data received from that will relate to an instruction for the operation of that device. The data analysis device will compare the date received with the predetermined instruction held in the data store for that data input device and send an appropriate instruction to the control hub which will control the music player.

The data analysis unit is also adapted to perform comparative analysis on at least part of the data provided to the control hub by one or more of the data acquisition or input devices and the data stored in the data store. The data stored in the data store can be reference data or may be data previously provided to the control hub by one or more of the data acquisition or input devices.

The comparison analysis made by the data analysis unit is most appropriately made on data that relates to one or more behaviours or physiological characteristics of the person in need of care or assistance. In that way, any medium or long term changes in that person which may be reflected by such changes in behaviours or physiological characteristics can be identified and an alert sent to a suitable recipient of such an alert, for example a medical professional. That recipient can then, if appropriate, investigate the reason for the change.

The control hub of the care apparatus of the present invention may comprise at least one central processing unit, an internal data store, and other components necessary for the operation of the control hub. The control hub can be configured so that it can act as a computer and may be programmed or reprogrammed by a user. It is particularly advantageous that the control unit can be programmed or reprogrammed because needs of the person in need of care or assistance may alter over time. The reprogramming can be in the form of changing how the control hub responds to instructions or outputs from the data analysis unit, adding or removing data acquisition or input devices, changing the way data is broadcast via the data broadcast devices or what data is broadcast, or adding or removing control means.

In some embodiments of the present invention the control hub can react directly to data received via a data input device without the data analysis device analysing that data. In some embodiments of the present invention, the control hub, data analysis unit and data store are all incorporated in the same device.

The control hub may include an internal clock and suitable programming that will cause one or more predetermined data broadcasts via a data broadcast device at specific times.

The predetermined data broadcasts can be reminders to the person in need of care or assistance that an action needs to be taken, for example taking medication, going to bed, or getting out of bed, eating or drinking, remaining in the property (eg not going out at night), or closing and locking an external door. Additionally or alternatively the data broadcast could be stimuli for the person in need of care or assistance. Such stimuli could be aural and in the form of music, spoken word, or an alarm via one or more sound projection or generation devices or loudspeakers or one or more images on a visual display unit, television or the like..

The communication between any of the control hub, the or each data acquisition or input device, the or each data broadcast device, the or each control device, the data store and/or the data analysis unit can be by suitable physical connection such as wires, or via any other appropriate communication means such as electromagnetic radiation, for example, via a wireless local network, a wireless personal area network, Bluetooth, z-wave or similar.

The care apparatus of the present invention may further comprise one or more control means that may be actuated by the control hub.

One or more of the control means may be physical devices that are attached to or otherwise physically connected with the device or mechanism that is to be controlled. Such devices or mechanisms to be controlled may include, for example, door and window locks.

One or more of the control means may be coding included in the electronic internal operating system of a device. Such devices may include, for example, televisions, ventilation units or music systems.

In care apparatus according to the present invention, one or more of the data broadcast devices may be a visual display unit, a sound generation means such as one or more loudspeakers or a device suitable for transmitting data over the internet. The data is broadcast in a form appropriate to the data broadcast device. The recipient or recipients of any alert generated by the care system of the present invention may be a carer, spouse, family member, friend or member of a medical profession. The alert may be transmitted to the recipient via the internet, a telecommunication means, or any other suitable communication means.

The care apparatus of the present invention may be configured to allow interaction with the care apparatus from a remote location by an authorised person. The interaction with the care apparatus from a remote location is preferably via the internet, a telecommunication means or other suitable communication means. In such embodiments of the present invention the system may be adapted to allow the person remotely accessing the system to view any of the data gathered by the one or more of the data gathering means and / or the results of the data analysis devices analysis on a live basis.

In some embodiments of the present invention the care apparatus of the present invention may be configured to allow the person remotely accessing the apparatus to broadcast data to the person in need of care or assistance via one or more of the data broadcasting devices of the present invention.