A locally-developed smart phone app ensures people diagnosed with dementia are kept out of harm’s way without forcing them to wear an electronic tag or impinging on their privacy.

The Ambient Assisted Living Buddy was developed by artificial intelligence researcher Alexiei Dingli together with University of Malta student Michael Buhagiar last year and uses mobile phones’ internal mechanisms and artificial intelligence to keep tabs on dementia patients.

The developers are in the process of seeking funding.

The technology asks for the user’s go-ahead before alerting carers and does not allow third parties, such as relatives, to ‘spy’ on users without their go-ahead.

Smart phones already have inbuilt technology that allows us to keep track of patients

Perhaps its most innovative feature, however, is that it can detect when the mobile device is not handled for some time, which could indicate that it was left behind, with patients wandering off without their phone should they need to call for help.

“Smart phones already have inbuilt technology that allows us to keep track of patients without actually monitoring their whereabouts all the time. This respects their dignity and their privacy much more than wearing some kind of tag,” Prof. Dingli said.

Renewed calls were made last week for the introduction of electronic monitoring devices for dementia patients.

Criminologist Saviour Formosa said the government would soon be launching a pilot project to test the viability of introducing tracking technology for those diagnosed with memory loss. He pointed out that searching for lost dementia patients who wandered off was a heavy burden on law enforcement officers and often a traumatic experience for relatives and patients alike.

One person is expected to go missing every day in Malta by 2025 due to an increase in mental health problems. More than a quarter of the island’s population will be aged 70 and over by then and about 10,000 will develop acute memory loss.

Despite what appears to be an increasing need for monitoring technology, Dr Formosa’s call for tagging was met with scepticism by Malta Dementia Society founder Charles Scerri who fears it could lead to “abuse and stigma” and intrude on patient’s privacy too much.

The new app uses the internal GPS devices on patients’ phones to create what is known as a Geo fence, a sort of digital barrier beyond which the user does not normally wander. This does not mean patients are kept on a leash.

If patients leave their phone behind then it will send out an alert for assistance

What it does is alert users as they approach the digital fence via a simple notification, like those used in instant messaging applications. At this point users can choose to acknowledge the alert and continue about their business uninterrupted. Failing to acknowledge the alert, however, would be seen as a sign that the user requires assistance.

While apps like this are on the cutting edge of assistive technology, the use of tagging is not unheard of.

More than 100 UK authorities are using GPS devices to track the whereabouts of elderly patients. The British National Health Service estimates that hundreds of thousands of pounds are saved each year by avoiding costly call-outs, which can often involve several officers, search teams and even helicopters.

Prof. Dingli said the largest obstacle to developing the application was ensuring patients did not simply switch off their phone or leave it behind.

The technology uses phone’s motion detectors together with their compasses to ensure that the device is being carried.

“If a patient leaves their phone behind then it will send out an alert. If this is repeatedly unanswered, then assistance will be sought.

“Again, patients can choose to temporarily stop this function to avoid being repeatedly alerted,” he said.

Prof. Dingli is applying for funding to see the technology introduced to healthcare centres.

He has already developed other artificial intelligence systems used in healthcare, such as an intuitive camera system that ensures patients do not fall out of their beds.

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