thanks to “augmented ears”, caregivers are more attentive to their patients

Boxes, capable of analyzing any sound, were installed in the rooms of a medical establishment in Beaurepaire, in Isère. These “augmented ears” make it easier to alert caregivers in the event of a resident’s problem. A beneficial sound watch, particularly at night.

Drumming, vomiting, screaming, cries for help or needing a glass of water: nothing escapes them. They now have ears everywhere.

The caregivers at the Grand Ouest medical residence in Beaurepaire, in Isère, have a new, discreet ally to watch over the elderly and disabled people they care for.

A little housing white has been installed in private rooms and in certain common areas. At the slightest suspicious noise, at the slightest sign of distress, an alert is sent to the professionals’ smartphone.

They can listen to the sound emitted and thus decide on the degree of urgency of their intervention. A system that is particularly useful at night when staff numbers are reduced. “It does not replace humans, but it allows us to have a complement and to hear noises that we would not necessarily have heard”indicates Cindy Collion, nurse coordinator of the system.

For her, the system “helps to get the resident back to sleep more quickly, for example. This allows residents to have their privacy, they are in their personal space in the room.” Because this device prevents caregivers from systematically entering the rooms every hour, during night rounds.

THE housing works thanks to artificial intelligence. A sound database was built. The augmented ear has been trained to analyze them. “There was a whole phase of experimentation during which we taught the augmented ear to identify the noises that worked and the noises that did not”continues the nurse.

“All the noises were identified at the start. With the selection of night watchmen, caregivers or nurses who are there at night, this made it possible to refine the augmented ear and only detect the noises that were necessary “, explains Cindy Collion. An essential sorting to avoid alarm when the sound deemed abnormal comes from a film or a television program for example.

The company behind this innovation wanted to help caregivers and vulnerable people “by analyzing this sound environment (…) which contains a lot of information”indicates Ollivier Menut, director of OSO-AI. “We specialize in slightly strange noises: spitting, falls, ruffling sheets”he deciphers.

“In health establishments, there are often call devices for patients, press buttons which are, in the end, usable by very few people”he says. “Our customers tell us that approximately 20% of people are able to use them wisely. If they ever fall or feel unwell, they do not use the call device. So, we come to understand what the resident needs without them even expressing it”adds Ollivier Menut.

A service that is all the more useful when people have difficulty verbalizing what they feel. In the Grand Ouest residence, a majority of people supported have disabilities, particularly mental disabilities.

Marine agrees to say a few words to us. THE housing is, for her, a guarantee, a factor of appeasement. “I agreed because I was afraid at night. I feel safer and now I have fewer nightmares”she confides. “It’s comfortable, they can watch us. That gives confidence. The team hears us on the phone. I’m happy. This provides security.”confirms another resident.

And while the system is reassuring, it also raises a certain number of ethical questions. Boxes capable of identifying any sound… The specter of Big Brother looms large. The head of OSO-AI is clear: it is a surveillance tool, and not a method of espionage.

“We do not record anything. The conversations between caregivers and residents are not analyzed. We are there to improve the care of the fragile person and to help caregivers, improve their quality of life at work, but it is not there is no policing device“, assures Ollivier Menut.

Will artificial intelligence replace humans? Replace the expertise of the professional? Once again, within the Isère residence, the management team denies this. The augmented ear does not threaten any jobs, according to Jean-Baptiste Mis, the director of the establishment.

“We have kept the same number of people: between four and five people per night. So, we are not replacing the staff, on the contrary, we are helping them and supporting them in their work so that they are as efficient as possible and that we be as intelligent as possible in their support”.

In a context of shortage of medical personnel, Jean-Baptiste Mis even sees the augmented ear as a bonus for his establishment. “This helps improve the quality of life at work for nursing staff, particularly at night since there are few of them. And, it allows us to be more attractive in terms of our recruitment for night nurses “he said.

At Beaurepaire, the team is still in the system discovery phase. We will have to wait several months to take stock of this new experience.

But the Brest company behind this technology has already equipped 1,500 rooms in France with these boxes: in homes for people with disabilities, in nursing homes, but also in private housing to make it easier to stay at home. .

Falls among older people cause more than 100,000 hospitalizations and more than 10,000 deaths each year. To curb the phenomenon, the government has launched a three-year anti-fall plan. In this context, remote assistance solutions such as the augmented ear aim to limit the risks of accidents and their consequences.