Robot-based solution for helping Alzheimer patients

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Robotics

Background:

• Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurological disorder causing cognitive decline and memory loss.
• It presents significant challenges for patients, families, and healthcare systems.
• Enhancing the quality of life for Alzheimer's patients is a key societal goal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of social robots in providing emotional support to Alzheimer's patients.
• To improve cognitive function and facilitate communication in individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
• To introduce a novel framework and a specific robot, the Alzheimer Care Companion Robot (ACCR), for Alzheimer's care.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Alzheimer Care Companion Robot (ACCR) with a framework for building Alzheimer's care robots.
• The ACCR is designed to identify Alzheimer's patients and initiate conversations in the Arab-Kuwaiti dialect.
• Incorporation of 271 conversations (active, proactive, GUI) and display of personalized memories (images, videos) to aid recall.

Main Results:

• The experimental results demonstrated the successful implementation and effectiveness of the proposed ACCR solution.
• The ACCR successfully initiated conversations and displayed relevant memories to assist patients.
• The study validated the proposed framework for developing specialized care robots.

Conclusions:

• Social robots like the ACCR show promise in supporting Alzheimer's patients by offering emotional and cognitive assistance.
• The ACCR's conversational approach and personalized memory recall feature can enhance patient well-being.
• This research contributes a novel framework and a functional prototype for advancing robotic care solutions in neurodegenerative diseases.