Non-Intrusive, Visual-Less Wearable Haptic Stimuli Navigational Assistance For Elderly With Dementia

@#Age is typically affiliated with the decline of cognitive function and the probability to be diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease, namely dementia. Of all dementia-related deficits, the paper highlights on the decline of wayfinding ability, since it is interrelated with mobility, autonomy, caregiving burden and eventually institutionalization. The sense of directions in elderly is also affected by the sensory changes, while the most obvious sensory declines are both vision and hearing. Hence navigation systems that support mainly on visual and auditory may not be the best option for them. A concept of wearable navigational assistance that is non-intrusive and uses haptic stimuli instead of visual and/or audio signals is presented in this paper. A Usability Test (UT) was performed towards the elderly with dementia at a selected nursing home to investigate how they perceive haptic-feedback as a modality of navigation. The assessments involved three phases: (1) orientation or training, (2) navigation test and (3) further navigation test. Results indicate the potential efficacy of haptic modality as a navigation signal. Improvement on subjects’ navigational performance was shown especially during the further navigation test, signifying the familiarization of the intervention. Employing the haptic modality could be a beneficial substitute for navigational purpose when vision and audio are less appropriate. Nevertheless, as much as the encouraging outcomes from the results and analysis of the assessments are valuable, the constructive reviews attained are indeed important for the future development of the device system.

Herpes Simplex Encephalitis Showing Prominent Spatial Disorientation with Visual Hallucination

A 58-year-old woman was admitted to hospital due to memory impairment and visuospatial dysfunction. Brain MRI revealed high signal lesions on both the temporal and inferior frontal lobes. She was diagnosed as having herpes simplex encephalitis based on her clinical and laboratory findings. Twelve months later she still presented with spatial disorientation, although her amnesia was improved. Neuropsychological testing revealed multiple cognitive impairments, and especially visuospatial dysfunction. This patient represents a case of herpes simplex encephalitis associated with spatial disorientation even when the amnesia had disappeared.

Aeromedical Consideration of Designing Attitude Indicator for Preventing Spatial Disorientation / 항공우주의학회지

To develop an aeromedical strategy to prevent aircraft accidents caused by spatial disorientation or loss of situational awareness, it is no wonder to say the first step may begin with understanding of operating principles of flight displays, especially attitude indicator. Therefore, this review article focused on explaining the unique aeromedical aspects of various types of attitude indicator. Also, the concept of newly developed attitude indicator was introduced to consider pros and cons of current design.